Hanley Leads in All-Star Voting!

On May 28th the first All-Star polls came out and Hanley Ramirez finds himself in a very slim lead at the NL Shortstop position. This is a rarity for Marlins players over the years, as South Florida is not the most popular market for baseball and ESPN consistently fails to give teams like the Marlins their fair due. That is why this is so remarkable.


1. Ramirez, H. Marlins 268,386
2. Tejada, M. Astros 256,613
3. Reyes, J. Mets 237,800
4. Theriot, R. Cubs 178,871
5. Rollins, J. Phillies 156,620

Why?

Well Hanley has been tearing up the league since his rookie year in 2006 (although he is majorly slumping right now), but that is not really why. He is likely in the lead because of the enormous amount of attention that was alloted to him a few weeks ago by not just the Florida media, but by the national media in his signing deal with the Marlins. His name was suddenly popping up all over the news and the internet in headlines from various sports sites.

Will at last?

It may...it may not. His largest obstacle over the next few months will be keeping ahead of Jimmy Rollins (defending NL MVP) and Jose Reyes who will gather up a ridiculous number of votes only because he plays in front of the New York fan base.

One thing is for sure - I would feel a lot better about his chances if he could stop striking out and start hitting again.

Other Notables:

Dan Uggla finds himself in 4th place in the NL 2nd Base Balloting. He trails the Phillies Chase Utley by 400,000 votes. I know ASponge will have something to say about that.