League earns All-Star Spot; Victorino Needs Votes
By Fred Guzman
There are three players with Hawaii ties currently playing in the major leagues.
One of them, Seattle reliever Brandon League, has been selected as an All-Star reserve on the American League squad.
The 29-year-old right-hander, a graduate of Oahu’s St. Louis School, registered his AL-leading 23rd save of the season yesterday’s preserving the Mariners’ 2-1 win over Oakland. In that game, catcher Kurt Suzuki of Maui accounted for two of three hits managed by the Athletics.
The other of Hawaii’s big-league players is Philadelphia center fielder Shane Victorino, and he is one of five candidates to become the 34th player on the National League roster.
That selection will be made by fans in an online vote through Thursday at mlb.com. That was the identical route taken by Victorino two summers ago. As a result of injuries, he ended up as a starter in his first All-Star appearance.
Also in the running for the final spot on the NL roster are Dodgers’ outfielder Andre Ethier, Colorado first baseman Todd Helton, Arizona right-hander Ian Kennedy, and Washington outfielder Mike Morse.
Oddly, Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen not only didn’t make it through the normal voting process, but despite an impressive resume, also is not included in the final vote.
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who leads the majors with 27 home runs, was the top vote-getter with a record 7.4 million for the July 12 game in Phoenix.
The Yankees have the most players selected — six — including starters Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson. And that doesn’t include pitching ace CC Sabathia, one of two 11-game winners this season. Because the timing of his last scheduled start befre the All-Star break, he would not able to pitch, anyway.
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