On PTI yesterday, Harold Reynolds said something along the lines of "Derek Jeter should be in the All-Star Game because he's the face of the game. They wouldn't play an NBA All-Star game without Michael Jordan, and the same thing applies here."
I think the best players should play in the All-Star Game. This year, Miguel Tejada and Michael Young have been better than Derek Jeter. They're both shortstops. Hence, unless you want three shortstops (which apparently, the NL did), Jeter's out of luck.
If there were a season where somehow Michael Jordan was outperformed in the first half of the year by Reggie Miller and Craig Ehlo, then by all means he should have been left off the team. But I don't think the "Face of the Game" exemption ever came into play with Michael Jordan. (Even when he was limping around in Washington for two embarrassing years.)
Michael Jordan is one of, if not the greatest basketball player ever. Derek Jeter is a good shortstop who is wildly, disproportionately famous.
Labels: all-star game, derek jeter, harold reynolds, pti