NEW YORK (AP) – Placido Polanco goes into the final days of All-Star fan voting with a dwindling lead over David Wright for the starting spot at third base on the National League team.
Polanco’s edge was down to about 23,000 votes in results released today. The Philadelphia Phillies star led his New York Mets counterpart by 130,000 votes last week.
Vote for David Wright to take over the lead, but hurry. Time is running out.
St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols remains the top vote-getter in the NL. Also ahead are second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Hanley Ramirez, catcher Yadier Molina and outfielders Ryan Braun, Andre Ethier and Atlanta rookie Jason Heyward.
Voting continues online through Thursday night. Results will be announced Sunday.
The All-Star game will be played July 13 in Anaheim, Calif.
3 Comments
Polanco is going on the DL today, so that should make Wright the official 3rd baseman, even if by default due to injury.
Don’t bet on it…. Unless the rule is the 2nd automatically goes, don’t count out Scotty Rolan in Cincy.
Yeah, I’m not sure why Placido Polanco is No. 1 in voting. Scott Rolen does have much better stats than Polanco does. Polanco’s got a high batting average at .318 but his runs, home runs, stolen bases and RBI tallies are much less than Rolen or Wright.
Here are their comparisons:
Polanco: Runs: 39, HR: 5, RBI: 27, SB: 3, Avg.: .318
Wright: Runs: 43, HR: 14, RBI: 61, SB: 13, Avg.: .310
Rolen: Runs: 41, HR: 15, RBI: 53, SB: 0, Avg.: 301
Wright leads the National League with the most RBI. The race should be between Wright and Rolen, but of course it’s not just about the stats. Are there really more Phillies fans than Mets fans? Or are the Mets fans just not voting enough? Is Polanco more popular than Wright?
Wendy makes a good point, though. Even if Wright doesn’t win outright, the fact that Polanco is on the DL pretty much makes Wright a shoo-in. Rolen, as good as he’s been, is just too far behind in the voting. He’s 270,000 votes behind Wright.