Adrian Gonzalez.jpg” width=”384″ height=”256″ />
It’s time for another All-Star voting update.
According to Joey Nowak at MLB.com, Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has widened his lead over Mark Teixeira in the All-Star voting. Gonzalez has been on hitting the cover off of the ball his month, posting an eye-popping .447/.512/.803 triple slash line in 86 plate appearances. Combining patience and power to go along with his Fielding Bible Award quality defense, he’s emerged as not only an obvious choice to be the American League’s starter at first base, but also the early season front runner for the AL MVP award. Through June 21st, he’s accumulated over 3 million votes; besting his division rival by more than 600,000 votes. With only a week remaining in the process, it’s all but certain A-Gone will start the July 12th game in Arizona.
Elsewhere in the voting process, David Ortiz has locked down the Designated Hitter spot; outpacing his nearest competitor, Michael Young, by more than 1.3 million votes. To date, Ortiz is the Red Sox top vote getter. Given Gonzalez’s torrid pace recently, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him overtake Big Papi within the next few days.
Jacoby Ellsbury is still very much in the hunt, and stands in fourth place behind Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, and Josh Hamilton. While no one’s going to catch either Bautista or Granderson, Hamilton’s spot looks to be vulnerable. Hamilton’s lead over Ellsbury has narrowed to roughly 150,000 votes; the gap between the two players was 350,000 votes just one week prior. With a big push by Red Sox Nation over the next seven days, it’s entirely conceivable Ellsbury could over take the 2010 AL MVP for the third and final starting outfield slot.
Here are the American League voting totals through Tuesday.
2011 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR BALLOTING (as of June 21)
CATCHER
Russell Martin, Yankees: 2,226,797
Alex Avila, Tigers: 1,730,511
Joe Mauer, Twins: 1,341,474
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Red Sox: 1,135,617
Yorvit Torrealba, Rangers: 980,697
FIRST BASE
Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: 3,017,960
Mark Teixeira, Yankees: 2,407,665
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 1,771,893
Mitch Moreland, Rangers: 890,468
Paul Konerko, White Sox: 676,194
SECOND BASE
Robinson Cano, Yankees: 3,664,498
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 2,239,172
Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 1,452,880
Orlando Cabrera, Indians: 910,941
Ben Zobrist, Rays: 828,771
THIRD BASE
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 2,876,537
Adrian Beltre, Rangers: 2,307,380
Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: 2,025,438
Evan Longoria, Rays: 1,639,405
Brandon Inge, Tigers: 490,734
SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter, Yankees: 2,654,040
Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: 2,242,157
Elvis Andrus, Rangers: 1,513,929
Jhonny Peralta, Tigers: 875,371
Marco Scutaro, Red Sox: 813,888
DESIGNATED HITTER
David Ortiz, Red Sox: 3,116,578
Michael Young, Rangers: 1,760,195
Jorge Posada, Yankees: 1,120,830
Victor Martinez, Tigers: 932,711
Johnny Damon, Rays: 864,535
OUTFIELD
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: 4,156,940
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 3,473,227
Josh Hamilton, Rangers: 2,400,408
Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox: 2,249,323
Carl Crawford, Red Sox: 1,789,097
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners: 1,537,101
Nelson Cruz, Rangers: 1,462,426
Nick Swisher, Yankees: 1,271,843
Brett Gardner, Yankees: 1,120,179
J.D. Drew, Red Sox: 1,112,720
Matt Joyce, Rays: 1,038,098
Jeff Francoeur, Royals: 906,983
Grady Sizemore, Indians: 867,281
David Murphy, Rangers: 785,630
Shin-Soo Choo, Indians: 764,817
If you’re interested in participating in the All-Star voting process, you can do so either online or via your mobile device by clicking this link. All ballots must be submitted by no later than June 30th at 11:59 P.M. to be counted. Let’s show our favorite Red Sox players our support by getting to the polls, and voting for them as much as possible. Remember, each fan can only vote up to 25 times…well, because clearly, voting 26 times is going overboard…