D-backs manager Gibson: No issue if Yasiel Puig is an All-Star
Jul 9, 2013, 9:16 PM | Updated: 9:44 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson says he really does not care about Los Angeles Dodger Yasiel Puig’s All-Star candidacy.
One of the best players in baseball since he arrived a little more than one month ago, the rookie is one of five N.L. players eligible for the game via fan vote.
“I think that the All-Star Game is picked a certain way and if he gets in that way, he deserves to be there,” Gibson told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Tuesday. “If he doesn’t, he won’t, and he’ll have another opportunity next year.”
Entering play Tuesday the 22-year-old is hitting .409 with eight home runs and 19 RBI. Spread out over the course of an entire season, those numbers would be record-setting. As they are, though, they are part of a small sample size that has some feeling the talented youngster does not deserve a spot at the Midsummer Classic.
Gibson does not see things that way.
“I’m not offended if he goes, I’ve heard some people like, ‘Yeah, he hasn’t earned it,'” Gibson said. “What does that offend us for?
“We want to win the game; National League wants to win the game.”
As has been for the last decade, the winner of the game will have homefield advantage in the World Series. Since switching to that format in 2003, the A.L. has gone 7-3 — with the N.L. currently boasting a three-game winning streak. Perhaps coincidentally, the N.L. has won the last three World Series, too.
