Bucs Want Bay To Start

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jun 11, 2006 12:41 PM EDT in News

That the Pirates badly want Jason Bay to start in the All-Star Game will be old news to anyone who's watched a game on Fox in the past week or so.

I don't know what to think of this. I don't care much, really, because the All-Star Game is an exhibition that doesn't have much to do with anything, particularly for the Pirates, who have no good reason to care who gets home-field advantage in the World Series.

This case is interesting, though, because it pertains to the conflicts of being a Pirates fan nowadays. Should we want Bay to start in the All-Star Game? On one hand, he's a legitimately great player, and he's one of the few players who makes the Pirates watchable.

On the other hand, the Pirates' management wants this badly - badly enough, it seems, that they have an employee fixing "hanging chads" on ballots cast for Bay. The reason they want this badly is because the All-Star Game is in Pittsburgh this year, and they desperately need a bit of good PR so that announcers, journalists and fans will be talking about Bay instead of the Pirates' disaster of a season.

Personally, I doubt Bay cares much, and whether he starts or not won't make a bit of difference in the standings. I hope the management is embarrassed badly on All-Star weekend. So... don't vote for Bay?

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Our old problem

Supporting the players means supporting the partnership in some way.

by steve_z on Jun 11, 2006 12:51 PM EDT reply actions

For Jason

I don't want this poor guy putting up a career's worth of great numbers, only to fall short because nobody knows who he is. He's the National League's best outfielder this year. He deserves to be recognized as such, and since he won't win the MVP, getting his first All-Star start is the way to go.

by psk984 on Jun 11, 2006 1:05 PM EDT reply actions

vote for him

I guess. He certainly deserves it. But I've boycotted voting for the All-Star team for too long to start voting now. I hardly ever even watch it anymore.

by Brian in 317 on Jun 11, 2006 1:56 PM EDT reply actions

Ownership

If they want to have more than one Pirate in the all-star game, or to have any starting, then perhaps they ought to start trying to commit to winning baseball.

Bay won't start whether we vote or not. He's in 9th, and there's no way he closes the gap.

by DJAnyReason on Jun 11, 2006 2:30 PM EDT reply actions