Your Patriotic American Duty

I have once again fulfilled my patriotic duties as an American and voted ... for the Major League Baseball All-Star Team. The good news is that it's really easy these days, since you can vote online at MLB.com's online All-Star Ballot.

The bad news is that it's really easy these days, since you can vote up to 25 times per day online at MLB.com's online All-Star Ballot. Worse yet, they make it really easy to stuff the ballot box this way. So over the past few years the All-Star fan voting has become a bit of ballot-box stuffing exercise for the big-market teams in New York and Boston.

But I like to fight back for El Tigres in my little way, and fortunately this year Detroit has several very deserving hitters. Here's who I voted for (25 times! Ugh!) this year:

American League:
1B - Cabrera, Miguel - Should've been last year's AL MVP.
2B - Cano, Robinson - Okay, the Yankee ballot-box stuffers have this one right.
SS - Peralta, Jhonny - A hometown vote for the Tiger, but he's also having a great season.
3B - Rodriguez, Alex - On the decline, but still an All-Star.
C - Avila, Alex - Monique's Tiger. Need I say more? Plus, he's actually the best catcher in the AL so far this year.
DH - Martinez, Victor - Having a great season protecting Miggy.
OF - Bautista, Jose - Out of nowhere, Babe Freaking Ruth materialized in Toronto.
OF - Granderson, Curtis - We miss you, Curtis!
OF - Suzuki, Ichiro - A down year, but a great player.
Write-in - N/A

National League:
1B - Votto, Joey - Last year's NL MVP. I might've voted for Pujols despite the down year, but his broken arm made it a bit academic.
2B - Weeks, Rickie - Having a surprisingly good season at a thin position.
SS - Reyes, Jose - Back to All-Star form in his contract year. Coincidence? I think not.
3B - Polanco, Placido - Monique's former Tiger.
C - McCann, Brian - He's no Alex Avila, but he's a pretty good catcher.
OF - Braun, Ryan - Living up the the hype.
OF - Holliday, Matt - A steady and perennially underrated batter.
OF - Kemp, Matt - If he's going to hit like this, he should break up with Rihanna every year!
Write-in - N/A