News / Sports
Detroit Tigers Place Three Starters on American League All-Star Roster
Placido Polanco will be playing in his first All-Star game on July 10 while his Detroit Tigers teammate Ivan Rodriguez will be attending his 14th. Somewhere in the middle of that gap will be Magglio Ordonez who will be making his sixth All-Star appearance to give Detroit three starters in the 78th Annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Polanco certainly deserves the honor of being voted a starter. The second baseman has hit .330 with 36 RBIs and scored 56 runs while collecting 102 hits in the first half. Not only has Polanco produced offensively but defensively the sure handed 31-year-old hasn’t committed an error yet.
The Tigers leader Ivan Rodriguez was voted to his 14th All-Star game after hitting .280 with 8 homeruns and 43 RBIs and handling the American League’s best pitching staff.
Magglio Ordonez is an early favorite for MVP after hitting .369 with 13 homeruns and 68 RBIs in the first half. Ordonex already has 34 doubles this year, that’s two more than his total for last season.
While the National League’s staring lineup will feature five players enjoying their first or second All-Star appearance the American League is full of veterans when it comes to starters. Outside of Polanco only David Ortiz has fewer than five All-Star Game appearances. Ortiz will be playing in his fourth All-Star game after hitting .314 with 13 homeruns and 49 RBIs. He’ll assume the responsibilities at first base despite having played in just seven games at the position this year.
Just as the New York Mets are fielding the left side of the diamond in the National League so too are the New York Yankees in the American League. Alex Rodriguez will be attending his 11th All-Star game and starting at third base after hitting 28 homeruns and driving in 78 runs while hitting .327 in the first half. His teammate Derek Jeter was voted the starting shortstop and will be making his eighth trip to the game after hitting .338 and scoring 53 runs while collecting 107 hits.
Joining Ordonez in the outfield will be Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels. Ichiro is hitting .365 and has scored 56 runs while collecting 119 hits in the first half. This will be Ichiro’s seventh All-Star game. Guerrero will be enjoying his eighth All-Star appearance after hitting .328 with 14 homeruns and 73 RBIs.
The All-Star Game will be played in San Francisco on July 10.
