All Star Update
by J. B. Cash
With all but one roster spot selected for the July 12 All-Star game, there was some good news for Caste Football fans. In the American League three white players were selected as starters by the fans, a big improvement over last year's lone representative (Jason Giambi). Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox will be the starting catcher, Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles will be starting at second, and Johnny Damon, also of the Red Sox, just edged out Ichiro Suzuki for the last starting outfield position.
On the AL bench are two players that Caste Football had our eyes on: 1st baseman Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox and SS Michael Young of the Texas Rangers, who were both selected partly due to their high vote totals. Also on the team as position players are Shea Hillenbrand of the Toronto Blue Jays and Mike Sweeny of the Kansas City Royals.
Eight of the twelve pitchers for the AL are white, no doubt partly as a result of voting by Major League players, coaches and managers. The AL All-Star Team's pitching staff will be as follows: starters Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox; 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays; and Kenny Rogers of the Rangers. Relievers named to the AL squad are Joe Nathan of the Twins, B.J. Ryan of the Orioles, Justin Duchscherer of the Oakland Athletics and Bob Wickman of the Cleveland Indians.
In the NL five position starters are white. In a closely watched battle shortstop David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals eked past Caesar Izturis of the L.A. Dodgers. Caste Football had politicked for Eckstein so thank you to all of you followers that took the time to vote, it was not in vain.
Jeff Kent of the Dodgers is the starter at 2nd, Scott Rolen, St. Louis Cards, is at 3rd, Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals is in the outfield and Mike Piazza, New York Mets, will start at catcher. It will be interesting to see who starts in centerfield, seven-time Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds or the Mets Carlos Beltran, another centerfielder.
Only two of the backups for the NL are white  Paul Do Luca, catcher from the Florida Marlins and Jason Bay an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Of the 11 pitchers selected 6 are white, led by the amazing Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros. Also on the team: St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Chris Carpenter, John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves, and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres. Relievers named to the NL squad are Jason Isringhausen of the Cardinals and Brad Lidge of the Astros.
This year's All-Stars have an unusually high number of white players due to last year's success of the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, two teams that are white dominated and extremely successful. Another factor is the fading of the last few American born black stars that have dominated All-Star voting for the last generation. Gone (or going) are the likes of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin.
Major League Baseball selects the 32nd and final All-Star player through online balloting that began on Sunday. Fans can choose from a list of five players from each league.
The five AL nominees are outfielders Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Torii Hunter of the Minnesota Twins, shortstop Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, and his teammate and last year's AL Final Vote winner, outfielder Hideki Matsui, plus outfielder Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox.
Pitchers have been nominated for the first time in the four-year history of the Final Vote, and make up all five of the NL nominees. San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, Philadelphia Phillies starter Brett Myers, Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner, Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt, and Arizona Diamondbacks sinkerballer Brandon Webb round out the contenders.
Caste Football recommends a vote for Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox for the "32nd player" as the 2004 MLB stolen base leader helps to fight negative stereotypes concerning the athleticism of white ballplayers. Go to www.mlb.com and cast your vote for Scott Posednik.
Throughout the voting process, baseball fans cast a record 16 million ballots, including a record 11.5 million online at MLB.com. In the AL, Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz garnered the most votes of any player in baseball, 4,138,141, to start his first game. Ortiz, a large black/hispanic slugger has the ideal vote collecting qualities: he is non-white, plays for the World Champs, plays in a media center (Boston), and presents a friendly non-threatening image to all of the white kids that cast the many votes for All-Stars.
The 2005 All-Star game will once again feature too many non-Americans, and will be top heavy on non-white representation. However it is a great improvement over last year's game and promises to be one of the best games to watch in years. Baseball's All-Star game was once a central sports event in classic white American culture. At Caste Football we are heartened to see it moving back in that direction.
by J. B. Cash
With all but one roster spot selected for the July 12 All-Star game, there was some good news for Caste Football fans. In the American League three white players were selected as starters by the fans, a big improvement over last year's lone representative (Jason Giambi). Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox will be the starting catcher, Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles will be starting at second, and Johnny Damon, also of the Red Sox, just edged out Ichiro Suzuki for the last starting outfield position.
On the AL bench are two players that Caste Football had our eyes on: 1st baseman Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox and SS Michael Young of the Texas Rangers, who were both selected partly due to their high vote totals. Also on the team as position players are Shea Hillenbrand of the Toronto Blue Jays and Mike Sweeny of the Kansas City Royals.
Eight of the twelve pitchers for the AL are white, no doubt partly as a result of voting by Major League players, coaches and managers. The AL All-Star Team's pitching staff will be as follows: starters Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox; 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays; and Kenny Rogers of the Rangers. Relievers named to the AL squad are Joe Nathan of the Twins, B.J. Ryan of the Orioles, Justin Duchscherer of the Oakland Athletics and Bob Wickman of the Cleveland Indians.
In the NL five position starters are white. In a closely watched battle shortstop David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals eked past Caesar Izturis of the L.A. Dodgers. Caste Football had politicked for Eckstein so thank you to all of you followers that took the time to vote, it was not in vain.
Jeff Kent of the Dodgers is the starter at 2nd, Scott Rolen, St. Louis Cards, is at 3rd, Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals is in the outfield and Mike Piazza, New York Mets, will start at catcher. It will be interesting to see who starts in centerfield, seven-time Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds or the Mets Carlos Beltran, another centerfielder.
Only two of the backups for the NL are white  Paul Do Luca, catcher from the Florida Marlins and Jason Bay an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Of the 11 pitchers selected 6 are white, led by the amazing Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros. Also on the team: St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Chris Carpenter, John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves, and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres. Relievers named to the NL squad are Jason Isringhausen of the Cardinals and Brad Lidge of the Astros.
This year's All-Stars have an unusually high number of white players due to last year's success of the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, two teams that are white dominated and extremely successful. Another factor is the fading of the last few American born black stars that have dominated All-Star voting for the last generation. Gone (or going) are the likes of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin.
Major League Baseball selects the 32nd and final All-Star player through online balloting that began on Sunday. Fans can choose from a list of five players from each league.
The five AL nominees are outfielders Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Torii Hunter of the Minnesota Twins, shortstop Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, and his teammate and last year's AL Final Vote winner, outfielder Hideki Matsui, plus outfielder Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox.
Pitchers have been nominated for the first time in the four-year history of the Final Vote, and make up all five of the NL nominees. San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, Philadelphia Phillies starter Brett Myers, Houston Astros closer Billy Wagner, Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt, and Arizona Diamondbacks sinkerballer Brandon Webb round out the contenders.
Caste Football recommends a vote for Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox for the "32nd player" as the 2004 MLB stolen base leader helps to fight negative stereotypes concerning the athleticism of white ballplayers. Go to www.mlb.com and cast your vote for Scott Posednik.
Throughout the voting process, baseball fans cast a record 16 million ballots, including a record 11.5 million online at MLB.com. In the AL, Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz garnered the most votes of any player in baseball, 4,138,141, to start his first game. Ortiz, a large black/hispanic slugger has the ideal vote collecting qualities: he is non-white, plays for the World Champs, plays in a media center (Boston), and presents a friendly non-threatening image to all of the white kids that cast the many votes for All-Stars.
The 2005 All-Star game will once again feature too many non-Americans, and will be top heavy on non-white representation. However it is a great improvement over last year's game and promises to be one of the best games to watch in years. Baseball's All-Star game was once a central sports event in classic white American culture. At Caste Football we are heartened to see it moving back in that direction.