The Futility Infielder

Torre's Magnificent Seven

The news that Joe Torre selected seven of his own players to the All-Star Game roster had even this Yankees fan cringing. Taken on their own merits, each of the selections is defensible to some degree:
• Roger Clemens leads the league in wins and is second in Ks
• Andy Pettite is outpitching his 19-win form of last season
• Mike Stanton has been the unsung hero of the pitching staff
• Mariano Rivera is again indomitable, unless he's facing Manny Ramirez
• Jorge Posada is the best offensive catcher in the league
• Bernie Williams tore up June (.450) and has overcome the death of his father to tear his way back to his rightful place above .320
• Derek Jeter... well, the little girls shriek when he comes to the plate. Oh, and he was the All-Star Game MVP last year. Plus he was the MVP of the World Series... that counts for something, right?

Added up, this is a bit excessive, especially coming from a manager not known for excess. Torre made waves when he first selected a middle reliever, Jeff Zimmerman, to the All-Star team in 1999. He made waves last year when he bypassed the Yanks' own Jeff Nelson, whose work had held the bullpen together during the first half. Nelson got into a public war of words with Torre and departed as a free agent for Seattle--where he again has been a deserving candidate. It would have been nice to see Torre take the olive-branch-bearing high road, but he passed up Nelson in favor of his former partner in crime, Stanton.

It's a no-win situation. One would think Torre wouldn't mind giving a three-day break to two relievers (Stanton and Rivera) who have totalled 80 appearances thus far. But last week Torre gently twisted Clemens' arm when Clemens indicated he wouldn't mind a vacation rather than a trip to Seattle. Roger is the presumptive starter--unless of course, the Yanks use him in relief during the weekend series with the Mets (a role Clemens hasn't pitched in since his rookie season, but which Yankee Pitching Coach Mel Stottlemyre blew smoke about the other day).

There's always going to be controversy when it comes to All-Star rosters, starting with the fans' choices. This year, four Mariners were voted in as starters by the fans: Brett Boone, Edgar Martinez, John Olerud, and Ichiro Suzuki. A fifth, third baseman David Bell, was edged out by Cal Ripken. Not that Ripken is playing especialy better than Bell, just that one is a legend on his last lap around the league, the other a good glove man who benefitted from the overzealousness of the hometown fans.

Which is their prerogative, I might add. I'm not a big booster of the All-Star balloting process, but it's a mechanism that does take the Will of the People into account, a rarity in this sport. The game is an exhibition, which means, by definition, that it's for the fans. So if the fans want to see David Bell, who am I to stop them?

The manager's role in selecting the reserves is supposed to balance out the process, but with seven Yanks, the roster looks anything but balanced. Even with the requirement to select at least one member to represent each team in the league--which is how we get Detroit's Tony Clark and the Godforsaken Devil Rays' Greg Vaughn instead of other worthy candidates--Torre could have and should have done better in selecting his squad.

As if there weren't enough Yankees already going, add Luis Sojo to this edition of Pinstriped in Seattle. That's right, Luis Sojo, futility infielder extraordinaire. No, Torre didn't grant him a roster spot. Sojo, popular from his playing days in Seattle, will perform at a charity concert. "Luis Sojo y su Orquesta" features the Man of Leather singing and playing the timbales. Roll over Tito Puente, and tell Joe Torre the news.