He's replacing Smoltz. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou&partnered=rss_hou
Here ya go... Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt has been named to his third consecutive NL All-Star appearance. Oswalt, who is 7-5 with a 3.52 ERA, was summoned to replaced injured Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz. Oswalt, who was called up to the Astros in 2001, holds a lifetime record of 105-52 with a 3.09 ERA with a .669 winning percentage, best in the NL since that time. Oswalt led the NL in wins in '04 and '05 and also led the NL in ERA last year with a 2.98 mark. This years 78th annual All-Star game will be held on Tuesday, July 10 at San Francisco's AT&T Park. Oswalt will join Carlos Lee as the other Astros representative. http://houstonist.com/2007/07/05/breaking_news_r_2.php
While great for Oswalt, this makes no sense. There's no case to be made for Oswalt over Young. Young has been better in every statistical area, is playing for a playoff-level team, is a Cy-Young contender, etc. I could see Oswalt getting voted in simply due to name recognition or whatnot, but its strange that he would get picked by baseball over Young. Bizarre.
Several voters also look at post All-Star numbers from the previous year, since they were not factored in for last year's vote. Post All-Star 2006 Oswalt - 9-2(W-L) 100(IP) 2.77(ERA) Young - 3-1(W-L) 69(IP) 4.00(ERA)
yeah, i'm assuming that they already know young won the fan vote thing? wouldnt make sense that they would take a player out of the fan vote and make him an injury replacement like 2 hours before the fan vote is complete.
Oswalt made it due to the following: "Oswalt finished sixth among pitchers on the National League players’ All-Star ballot with 118 points. The top five earned sports on the team that was announced Sunday. Because Oswalt was sixth in the players’ ballot, he automatically earned the next spot once Smoltz pulled out for the game." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4945680.html
Are you serious? He's one of THE best pitchers in the NL. No one is better than him since '01. He won an ERA title last year and didn't get much respect in the Cy Young voting. The players vote the five best pitchers to the game. Oswalt was sixth. So when Smoltz pulled out, Oswalt is automatic.
Except all-star teams aren't about careers (except in the case of fan voting when bizarre picks are made). The voting explains it, but it doesn't mean it makes any sense.
oh that's pretty cool then. still about as biggest snub as you can have if the pitcher with the best era in majors somehow doesnt make the all star team. hopefully young wins the fan vote.
The only other NL pitcher I'd take to win one game would be John Smoltz. It's the players vote that counts. That's why he went in. He was considered a top 6 by the players...career wise, not Chris Young.
let's not make it out to be a crime that oswalt is on the all-star team. he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball since his call-up and hasn't always been rewarded for it. he deserves this.
