Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Fans have received criticism for decades over their All-Star Game selections, but it turns out the players and commissioner’s office are even worse at it.
The Oakland A’s are one of the better teams in the majors, a perennial contender having another strong winning season, but they only had one of their players picked for the AL All-Star team. That is both patently ridiculous, and exactly what A’s fans have come to expect from a league that simply won’t acknowledge our team’s existence.
Oakland is not an upstart contender. They went to the postseason each of the last three years, and last summer they won their division and then also a playoff series. And right now they are 11 games over .500 at 50-39, and if the season ended today they would comfortably win the second Wild Card for a fourth straight trip to the playoffs. They are objectively a good team.
While the results of the first Starters Election format already were revealed earlier in the week, the reserves and pitchers for the July 13 game at Colorado’s Coors Field were unveiled live on ESPN on Sunday evening. There were 47 additional spots to fill 24 in the NL and 23 in the AL with 33 of those selections made via the player ballot and the rest by the Commissioner’s Office.
While there is no more Final Vote as of the 2019 All-Star Game, rosters still can change between now and July 13, if players drop out due to injury or other factors. Any replacements will be added here when they are announced.