While searching for a subject for this week’s column, I began to notice what might be considered, perhaps, a trend. On many of the sports websites, they’re writing about LeBron James, and if somehow, some way, by some miracle Cleveland could win the NBA title, how it might cement his legacy. On every one of the World Wide Leader In Sports Analysis channels: LeBron. Sports talk radio? All LeBron, all the time. Competing newspapers? LeBron. The guys at church? Eh, not so much. Nevertheless, it seems that trend, if I can correctly detect it, may be LeBron and the Cavaliers. So maybe I should write about LeBron this week. I mean, I’ve already used LeBron’s name in the column seven times. I’ll wait if you want to count them yourself.
So, you’re back? Great! Seriously, if the Cavaliers do win it all this season, I’d say it’s among the greatest individual feats the league has ever known. I would argue it would be greater than any of the championships the Bulls won in the Jordan era. Here we are in the finals, and I’m not sure I can name three healthy Cavaliers at this point. (Disclaimer: I’m not sure I can name more than five players off of any one NBA roster, including the Pacers and Bulls. You can lead a writer to pro basketball, but you can’t make him care.) So, let’s see what happens, and I’ll let the so-called experts put the “anal” in “analysis.” Meanwhile, on to the column I really wanted to write. How in the world can seven Kansas City Royals be leading their positions in the All-Star game voting? Two other Royals are close: Omar Infante is second in the American League second baseman race, and Alex Rios is fourth among outfielders. While conceding the Royals are a solid ballclub, this is the kind of ballot box stuffing usually reserved for third world dictatorships. If the Royals get more than four starters, which would set a record for All-Star Game starters, there will be a rule change that limits the number of starting players from one franchise. You wait and see! The counterpoint is if there were seven Dodgers, Yankees or Mets voted in by the fans, nothing would change. Personally, I wouldn’t mind having six Royals on the team. Mike Moustakas is having a career year, and Eric Hosmer is among the best players at a position loaded with talent around the league, first base. Catcher Salvador Perez is leading all players in the vote, but I’d rather he sit out the game and get the rest. Gordon will be an All-Star for years to come, and we Royals fans are hoping it’s in a Kansas City uniform. He’s a likely free agent after this season, and the Royals are going to be careful not to set a payroll precedent they can’t match when other contracts expire. Lorenzo Cain is likely riding the wave of last year’s postseason performance, but he’s hitting around .280 and generally keeping up appearances in the outfield. Alcides Escobar is a solid, but not spectacular hitter who shows up most every week on the highlight shows for his glove. Kendrys Morales is leading the designated hitter voting, and it’s hard to argue; he’s made Billy Butler fade somewhat from the memories of Royals fans for the time being. That pickup couldn’t have gone much better for Morales or the Royals. What’s even more impressive is this list doesn’t include anybody from the Royals bullpen, and it’s not hard to argue Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland are all worthy of selection. Even the most ardent Royals fan can’t truly justify Infante or Rios for inclusion on the team. Rios has been on the disabled list a good chunk of the season, and Infante is solid with the glove but is hitting .216 as of today. So while Kansas City has players worthy of All-Star status, nobody is confusing them with the 1976 Big Red Machine, much less the 1927 Yankees. It’s nice to have that kind of team, but I wonder if it’s worth the issues down the road to have that many players in the Midsummer Classic.
