The 2012 All Star Game is finally upon us. With every new baseball season, one can always look to the mid-summer classic as the best of the best playing for one game on the big stage. Monster home runs and three pitch strikeouts are sure to add excitement. What more can anyone ask for? How about a more fair voting system that doesn't completely involve the popular vote? If anything has been seen in the last decade, the best players in baseball in any given year don't always start, let alone play.

Lets take a look at the starters for the National league. Remember, the starters are all chosen by the popular vote by fans. The starters are:
Pitcher: Matt Cain
Catcher: Buster Posey
1st Base: Joey Votto
2nd Base: Dan Uggla
3rd Base: Pablo Sandoval
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal
Left Field: Ryan Braun
Center Field: Melky Cabrera
Right Field: Carlos Beltran
Designated Hitter: Carlos Gonzalez

Now, this is a stacked lineup with every guy being deserving in their own right to be there. However, are they truely the best at their respective positions? I would have to say no. Granted, there were so many options at most of the positions for the National League, the decisions that were made seem to be a little to much reliant on that popular vote. Lets start off with Matt Cain on the mound.

Matt Cain has posted a 9-3 record with a 2.62 era this season. Respectable numbers at this point as well as making him the ace of a staff in which Tim Lincecum has fallen off the map in 2012. Cain has the ability to get people out with his above average fastball and pin point location. However, the National League has one guy who I think has been more dominant and should have started.

Now the popular idea would be R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets, however, I personally would put Gio Gonzalez of the Washington Nationals on the mound to start the game. Gonzalez and Cain have near even stats across the board. However, Gonzalez has come to the National League and taken it by storm with 12 wins and opposing batters hitting just .198 against him. In three starts verse American League teams, Gonzalez posted a 2-1 record with 18.1 innings pitched while also holding opponents to a batting average below .190. In reality, Cain, Dickey, and Gonzalez are all solid picks to start this game. Gonzalez, in my opinion, holds the edge.

For the next question, I move down the lineup to Pablo Sandoval. Now this looks like I am hating on the San Francisco Giants. However, that is not the case. Sandoval failed to out hit two guys who deserve the 3rd base position. In this case, the starter should be David Wright of the New York Mets. Wright posted better numbers than Sandoval all the way across the board. The year Wright is having is a career year for sure. He has posted 11 Homeruns, 59 RBI, and a video game Batting Average of .351. Not only that, but he has also been a Gold Glove caliber 3rd basemen. Wright in reality is the most logical pick for 3rd, but because of the popular vote he will have to come off the bench and take less time.

With my last choice, I have to complain about Bryce Harper being chosen to the All Star Game as an injury replacement. There is no person who follows baseball that can say Harper has had an all star caliber year compared to other outfielders in the National League. In my opinion, if you wanted Bryce Harper in the all star game, he should have been involved in the Home Run Derby but nothing more. Besides, the 500ft Homerun is what jumped him to stardom in the first place. I am a huge Harper fan, but he hasn't earned his stripes just yet.






All in all, even with the controversial picks, the 2012 All Star Game will be one to watch for sure and will definitely deliver. I look for the American League to edge out the National League in the long haul. However, with the pitchers in this game, it could go either way.

Jake Espinoza