The All-Star Game Is Such A Joke

I don't understand why Major League Baseball bothers running huge marketing campaigns trying to convince fans that the All-Star Game matters, especially when they employ a faulty system that constantly takes players who don't deserve to go? I don't think i'm being a homer when I say that Matt Kemp has been absolutely robbed.

The NL All-Star Team has four first basemen, three of them deserve it, and one is simply a ridiculous homer pick by Charlie Manuel.

Ryan Howard (1B)

OPS=.853
wRC=51.5
wOBA=.364
UZR=1.9
RAR=16.7

I love what Orlando Hudson contributed to the Dodgers at the beginning of the season, but as good as he was then, he's been that bad recently.

Orlando Hudson (2B)

OPS=.772
wRC=48.4
wOBA=.345
UZR=-4.5
RAR=14.8

I know that Houston has to have an All-Star, but two of them? Really?

Miguel Tejada (SS)

OPS=.819
wRC=47.6
wOBA=.354
UZR=-5.1
RAR=17.3

Hunter Pence (RF)

OPS=.861
wRC=50.6
wOBA=.372
UZR=2.2
RAR=21.6

Brad Hawpe is having a career year in 2009, but he has always been an atrocious fielder, and nothing about that has changed this year.

Brad Hawpe (RF)

OPS=.999
wRC=57.7
wOBA=.418
UZR=-10.2
RAR=15.1

Now i'm not going to sit here and argue that Ryan Braun or Raul Ibanez or Justin Upton or Carlos Beltran are clearly inferior, but as of right now, every outfielder in the National League has an inferior WAR to Matt Kemp.

Matt Kemp (CF)

OPS=.841
wRC=51.5
wOBA=.372
UZR=10.1
RAR=35.1

Could he be better offensively? Sure, but so could half the people I mentioned above. If Kemp isn't good enough to be an All-Star, than who is? Ugh.

All-Star voting always angers me because people automatically assume that anybody who made the All-Star Team was unquestionably deserving. That's obviously false, but people continue to cite All-Star appearances as if they mean something. It's all so dumb.

Regardless, even with injustices that have already occurred, Dodger fans have one last opportunity to rectify this situation, so let's do it.

I actually wasn't going to post about the All-Star rosters until a few days before the actual game, but I just had to post this now because it's so absurd to me.