A while back Tony LaRussa said that he loved the way that Ian Desmond played. That was a heck of a compliment coming from a multi-World Series winning manager. Well LaRussa gave Desmond a little more of a compliment by adding him to the National League roster of the All-Star Team.
Desmond's power stats as a shortstop, leading the NL in RBI's (43) and Doubles (23) and 2nd in homers (13) looked like All-Star numbers. But he struggled last year and his number kind of quietly added up this season, puting him right on the edge of being selected or not selected. But with the Nationals in first place, it helps.
Desmond has come into his own this season. The manager started him off in the wrong position in the batting order, but now in the 5th slot Desmond is making a huge contribution for the first place Washington Nationals. Not only does he have a lot of RBI's but many of them are in key situations (8 GW RBIs) that turn games around for the Nats.
Desmond's career homerun season was back in 2010 when he hit 10. Ian is already at 13 long balls and the season isn't even halfway over. I had a favorite player who's homerun numbers jumped alot too. His name was Mark McGwire. I'm not saying that Dezzy is "enhancing" but in this baseball culture I hope they have tested him already because I don't want to be disappointed.
The starting shortstop selected by fans, aka the Cardinals fans stuffing the ballot box, was Rafael Furcal. Starlin Castro was the other shortstop selected by LaRussa as a reserve. Guys like Jose Reyes & Jimmy Rollins were left out. Desmond was deserving, and I think LaRussa was the only manager that would have selected him.
It's ashame that the fans vote (All-Star voting is so stupid) and a non-nationally known player like Ian Desmond often would get overlooked. Thank you Tony LaRussa for looking at the baseball player instead of the name. See you in Kansas City Dezzy....
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