Vote Early and Often for Paulie

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jul 5, 2011 3:40PM

When MLB Announced the All-Star Game rosters over the holiday weekend, each of our baseball teams landed only the minimum of one representative. For the Cubs, shortstop Starlin Castro got the nod. The youngest Cubs ever selected for the mid-season exhibition at the tender age of 21, Castro is batting .307 with 2 home runs and 38 RBIs.

The White Sox had hoped more than one player deserved inclusion on the AL's All-Star roster, but only Carlos Quentin has been named to the team so far, after being selected by the players as a reserve. Many thought that Phil Humber deserved a spot on the team, given his 8-4 record and 2.69 ERA after getting a shot in the rotation only because of Jake Peavy's rehab. Humber's consistently strong performances have compelled Ozzie Guillen to go to a rare six-man rotation when all his starters are healthy, as his fill-in leads the team in wins and ERA.

Also left off the initial team was Paul Konerko, despite a .319 batting average, 21 homers and 62 RBIs. Those numbers place Paulie in the top five in the AL in all three categories. However, fans do have a chance to vote Konerko into the All-Star game in the Final Vote. Paulie has the early lead to become the final addition to the AL roster, but needs for fans to keep voting for their PaulStar to ensure he wins out over Alex Gordon, Adam Jones, Victor Martinez and Ben Zobrist. Voting continues until 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, so vote early, vote often and send Paulie to Phoenix for next week's All-Star Game.