Ramirez May Not Get To Be All Star

It may not be the right thing, but it would have been fun to watch Bud Selig answer questions about Manny Ramirez being in the All Star Game and how he is such a great representative of the sport.

Alas, that may not come to be. Despite a campaign to get him elected, Manny Ramirez dropped to fifth in the All Star voting for outfielders this week. If the voting ended today Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, Philadelphia's Raul Ibanez, the Chicago Cubs' Alfonso Soriano would start in the outfield for the National League. The New York Mets' Carlos Beltran is now fourth.

The big challenge for Ramirez is that he is now more than 134,000 votes behind Soriano for that third starting spot. That is a lot of ground to make up.

Ramirez continues to sit out as part of his 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy. He will be eligible to come back July 3, just a few days before the All Star game.

But while technically eligible, the All Star game is traditionally reserved for baseball’s best from the first half of the season.

Of course, the Dodgers currently have the best record in baseball but not one of their players would likely be in the starting lineup (Ramirez may be the most likely to be voted in by fans). And the Dodgers may have more at stake in the game than most — it determines home field advantage for the World Series, and the Dodgers look like they could make it.

So, maybe we should all just vote for Manny.

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