American League All Star Game Selection

The All Star Game has become kind of a popularity contest allowing people to vote up to thirty times online. I think you should have one vote and vote for those who deserve to be in the game. The All Star Game is very important because the league that wins will have home field advantage in the World Series. People should vote for the best players in the league of their favorite teams. This way if their favorite team that team would have home field advantage. Below are my top two selections for each position in each league.

Joe Mauer is not performing well but should be picked to be in the All Star Game because it is in Minnesota this season. Also although Derek
Jeter leads the voting for AL shortstop, he is not playing very well, but this is his last season and should also be selected.

Robinson Cano

American League:

Catcher:
AJ Pierzynski - Boston Red Sox - .288/.317/.417
Kurt Suzuki - Minnesota Twins - .297/.
367/.399

First Base:
Edwin Encarnacion - Toronto Blue Jays - .279/.359/.615
Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers - .325/.370/.558

Second Base: 

Robinson Cano - Seattle Mariners - .327/.371/.420 

Jose Altuve - Houston Astros - .318/.360/.429

Third Base: 

Josh Donaldson - Oakland Athletics - .284/.377/.550

Yangervis Solarte - New York Yankees - .294/.363/.458

Short Stop

Alexei Ramirez - Chicago White Sox - .327/.364/.477 

Derek Jeter - New York Yankees - .273/.337/.326

Outfield 1: 

Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels - .294/.380/.549

Jose Bautista - Toronta Blue Jays .311/.441/.558

Outfield 2: 

Nelson Cruz

Michael Brantly - Cleveland Indians - .307/.370/.505

Shin-Soo Choo - Texas Rangers -.289/.414/.456

Outfield 3:

George Springer - Houston Astros .259/.444/.500 

Melky Cabrera - Toronto Blue Jays .308/.351/.497

Designated Hitter: 

Nelson Cruz - Baltimore Orioles - .314/.384/.672

Victor Martinez - Detroit Tigers -  .335/.390/.395

Fans do not get to choose the starting pitchers. That responsibility is given to the manager of each team. Usually the manager gives players on his team the benefit of the doubt and selects them to the All Star Game. 

Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish

Starting Pitchers:

Masahiro Tanaka - New York Yankees - 2.06 ERA 88 k

Yu Darvish - Texas Rangers - 2.08 ERA 83 k

Mark Buehrle - Toronto Blue Jays - 2.10 ERA 46 k

Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners - 2.57 ERA 83 k

Sonny Grey - Oakland Athletics - 2.45 ERA 65 k 

James Shields - Kansas City Royals - 3.36 69 k

Relief Pitchers: 

Greg Holland - Kansas City Royals - 1.74 ERA 30 k 

Glen Perkins - Minnesota Twins  2.96 ERA 33 k

Koji Uehara - Boston Red Sox 0.76 ERA 34 k

Dellin Betances - New York Yankees 1.38 56 K

Sean Doolittle - Oakland Athletics 2.77 ERA 38 k

If you would like to cast your vote for the All Star Game follow this link. Vote Here. Remember to vote responsibly, this may make or break your favorite team. 

About Me And Recent Work

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season, as this is when the market slows down. I would like to take a moment and let my readers know a little about me. My goal is to one day be a general manager of a Major League team, but I would be just as happy to work for a network that broadcast baseball, or another position for a team. I have also considered opportunities that may exist in Japan, Australia, The Dominican Republic, and other foreign countries. I am currently studying statistics, economics, and mathematics in hopes to earn my bachelors degree in a few years. 

In my intro to statistic class, my group and I look at some distinct groups in the Major Leagues. We collected data from all the position players who played 116 games or more in 2013 and stratified them into groups: 50 American League players, 50 National League Players, 33 24-27 year old players, 34 28-31 year old players, and 33 32-35 year old players. 

Using statistical software and proper judgement we found that there is not much evidence that proves that one group is better than the other in home runs. This chart to the right shows the home runs for the 50 players in each league who played at least 116 games. The evidence shows that the American League is not better than the National League as many think, they are literally almost exactly the same.  The same outcome came up when comparing the number of home runs by the different age groups. The American League is only superior in one respect: the pitcher is not required to bat, but I did not incorporate that, I strictly wanted to test the players. 

Batting average also doesn't change much between age group as many think. It is a common misconception that the 28-31 age group is the best age group, but in batting average they all seem to be the same. In this graph 0 represents the other two age groups, and 1 represents the 28-31 age group. They are statistically similar. A player may be healthiest and most agile when in this age group, but in 2013 all of the players seem to have similar statistics. 

Remember that each age group was composed of about 33 players randomly selected from the total number of players in that age group who played 116 games or more. One notable player that was not selected randomly was Miguel Caberea. Perhaps after another selection the statistics may be slightly more different, but not by much. 

2012 Standings Predictions

The standings are ordered from the team with the most wins to the team with the least wins. The teams will be listed with the number of wins following. All of the wins are approximates, the actual number may vary 1-2 wins higher or lower depending on unexpected events during the season.  The teams with a "W" following their name means they will get a wild card spot. 

American League

East 

        1. Yankees 98

        2. Red Sox 93 W

        3. Rays 90

        4. Blue Jays 70

        5. Orioles 62 

Central 

        1. Tigers 95

        2. Indians 83

        3. Royals 81

        4. Twins 70

        5. White Sox 70 

 

West

        1. Rangers 94

        2. Angels 93 W

        3. Mariners 71

        4. Athletics 64

Nationals League

East

        1. Phillies 96

        2.Marlins 92 W

        3. Nationals 87 

        4. Braves 85

        5. Mets 63

Central 

        1. Reds 93

        2. Cardinals 92 W

        3. Brewers 85

        4. Pirates 78

        5. Cubs 65

        6. Astros 60

West 

        1. Giants 91*

        2. Diamondbacks 91*

        3. Dodgers 85

        4. Rockies 73

        5. Padres 60 

* The Giants and The Diamondbacks are so well matched they will finish with exact records. They will have to play a game 163 and the winner will go on and win the division. I predict the winner of game 163 to be the Giants.