Current Pandora station: A Tribe Called Quest
Current song: Phony Rappers, A Tribe Called Quest

I’m not really sure what this is supposed to be, but the best part begins at about 2:30 and runs until 4:30. It’s absolutely a must watch & if you don’t feel like reading the rest of this post at least watch the video & get a good laugh in for the day.

Which brings us to our topic for the day: Lastings Milledge should be in the 2009 All Star Game. No, not because he is a good or even serviceable player. No, not because he has great character & tremendous work ethic. No, not because he takes his stretching seriously & always wears the same uniform as the rest of the team.

Lastings has always been much maligned in controversy & general dislike since arriving on the pro circuit, but as of late an interesting movement has arisen.

No, not the movement of Lasting’s booty dancing, which appears impressive, but the movement of many in the blogosphere to show the All Star balloting for the farcical display it is & elect a pariah to his own team, an individual banished to the minor leagues sans plans to return, yet inexplicably is on the All Star ballot as a candidate to represent the Nationals. Barring some really mysterious turnarounds in the team’s fortunes, Milledge would also be the team’s sole representative.

I’ve always felt the All Star Game voting process was a complete joke as the players are not selected upon merit, but solely upon popularity which makes for some odd inclusions as well as omissions. The inclusion of Milledge would be a wonderful show of just how flawed this whole process is. Why must the list come out so early and why is the list not modified when players are either sent down or injured for extended periods of time? I’m not going to take sole credit for this idea & it has been discussed over at Sons of Sam Horn:

“As good citizens of NatsTown, I think we need to get as many Natinals on the All-Star team as possible.

“Specifically, Lastings Milledge is on the NL All-Star ballot. He needs to make the team. Nothing would be more NatsTown than having the Natinals’ (lone?) All-Star game representative be a AAA player for whom the organization has no plan.

“How can we make this happen?”

So basically what we will need to happen is for the large voting bases (Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers) to rally behind this concept, & it is indeed catching some steam, & then dedicate a slot on each ballot they cast to Milledge. Even if MLB attempts to put an end to this by taking Milledge off the ballot he can still be written in which is just as good if not better. I shall dedicate myself to voting daily for Lastings Milledge in the hopes of sending the important message to MLB about using some more common sense with this inherently flawed system. Sure, it will be tough to pass up some of the genuinely deserving outfielders in the NL, but not impossible given the right circumstances. If Pedro can come all the way from Juarez & defeat Summer in the classic Cinderfella story then anything is possible.

Vote for Lastings

Closing song: Plug Tunin’ (Original 12″ Version), De La Soul