For the first time since 1999, the San Diego Padres will have three players on the National League All-Star Team when the first pitch is thrown in MLB’s mid-season classic, held in San Francisco on July 10.
It’s of course no surprise that ace pitchers Jake Peavy and perennial All-Star Trevor Hoffman were pegged right off the bat (so to speak) to be All-Stars. But what’s equally surprising, if not downright shocking, is that Chris Young—who as of July 4 holds the best ERA (2.00) in the league—didn’t earn the initial nod. Fortunately for him and Padres fans, he was among five pitchers that fans could vote for online into the All-Star Game.
Rallying behind their man, Padres players joined the suits in the ballclub’s front office to wage a massive PR campaign to get out the vote. In fact, even one of Young’s competitors for the final spot on the National League roster, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, threw his support for Young rather than stump for votes for himself. The result: Chris Young garnered more votes than any other candidate (4.5 million) in either league. A record-setting 23 million votes were cast total.
And what did Chris Young think of all this? He was more moved by the outpouring of support from his team and the community than he was by actually getting into his first All-Star game. Aw shucks.
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