MLB All-Star Game: An overview of the rosters – Part 3
Josh Hamilton of Texas Rangers completed the outfield for the AL All-Star team, edging past Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox. It was 36,727 votes that separated the two otherwise very similar players. Hamilton has now earned his fourth consecutive All-Star
Game. His career has been marred by injuries and addictions but he has made a strong comeback to the professional level and rightly deserves his spot.
His stats are a worthy testimony of his ability. Hamilton has managed ten home-runs this season at a slugging percentage of .535 with career homers totalling 103 with a slightly better slugging percentage of .544. In 49 games played this season, Hamilton
has connected 59 times and yielded 31 runs with 42 RBIs. He has been the power house in the Rangers’ bull-pen and the AL roster will be expecting similar performances on July 12.
Alex Avila of the Detroit Tigers has once and for all silenced his critics. It is for the first time since 2007 that a Detroit player has been voted to the AL team. Russell Martin of the New York Yankees was the clear choice heading into the final round
of voting but the Tigers fans did not let their star catcher down and voted him through for his first appearance in the All-Star team. This time, the critics cannot blame his success to be shouldered on Detroit’s assistant general manager and father Al Avila’s
standing.
The youngster has finally made a name for him and has been duly honoured based on his performances this season. An excellent catcher with ten home-runs and 46 RBIs to add to his 20 runs this season, he surely is a complete package for the AL roster. He should
thank the Detroit fans and team-mates who bailed him out of the intense voting competition!
Adrian Gonzalez of Boston Red Sox filled in the first base on the AL roster, duly getting rewarded for his outstanding performance this season. Gonzalez’s hitting ability has helped his team to 50 wins in 85 games this season. He started the season with
900 hits to his name. With just the first-half played, he has already registered 121 hits, achieving the 1000 hits milestone on the way.
His slugging has been above par this season at .583. Gonzalez has 59 runs this season thus far accompanied by 75 RBIs. Standing as a fort on first base, his batting skill would be an added advantage to the AL and the bull-pen would be upbeat on his inclusion
in the roster. Expressing himself to the reporters, Gonzalez said, "I always said it's great to make an All-Star Game. We've still got another half to play, so you've got to continue to play hard.”
David Ortiz from the Red Sox completes the AL All-Star Starters line-up, taking the designated hitter position. The 6ft 4in hitter has lived up to his name thus far in the season. In 82 games played, Ortiz has amassed 17 home-runs and scored 50 runs. His
25th run this season brought up his 1000th career-run in his 14 years of professional baseball. Ortiz is a motivating force in the bull-pen and has the ability to shift the momentum his way at any point of the game. His slugging percentage
of .565 corresponds to his ability. Ortiz is receiving the honour of the All-Star selection for the seventh time and will be geared up for his fifth start on July 12.
Continued in Part 4
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