It seems that every year you can always find Jason Varitek in the top five in American League All-Star voting. It's that whole "Red Sox Nation" thing being strong.
It also wasn't weird to see a Mark Bellhorn or a Pokey Reese kind of player ranking high year to year. It seemed no matter how good the individual was in the Red Sox's starting lineup, they would be getting a lot of votes.
But it's not that way this year. At least not yet.
The Red Sox have only one player in the top two in All-Star voting and that's Dustin Pedroia. He, if you didn't hear the news, most likely won't be participating anyway after his Laser Shows went on the disabled list.
At first base, Kevin Youkilis ranks fourth. As wrong as that sounds, he's behind Justin Morneau and Miguel Cabrera, who both deserve to be there. But Mark Teixeira is second and that's just irresponsible of the voters.
At third base, Adrian Beltre ranks fourth as well despite leading AL third basemen with a .401 wOBA. Beltre has also played Gold Glove-calibur defense with a .340 batting average. That's all.
Marco Scutaro doesn't factor in the top two despite having the second-highest OBP (.353) for shortstops in the AL. Factor in the great defense, too, and it's a shame that he might not get the honors.
In the outfield, no Red Sox in the top 15 in voting. As much as the above might be bothersome, this should be the kicker: I don't know about you, but I have no idea how Darnell McDonald is not in the top three.
That's just wrong.