Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt leads all NL first basemen in votes, offense
Jun 18, 2014, 12:29 AM
PHOENIX — America’s first baseman may soon become America’s National League starter in the 85th All-Star game.
Not that Paul Goldschmidt is campaigning for such an honor.
“If it happens, great,” he said Tuesday. “I’ll be excited and be very thankful for all of the support. If not, that’s fine too.”
Typical Goldy.
In the most recent balloting update, Goldschmidt surpassed 1.2 million votes to move ahead of NL West rival and four-time All-Star Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers.
“We’ve got great fan support here,” said Goldschmidt, an All-Star reserve a year ago. “It just shows the type of support that the fans here give us as players.”
Gonzalez had been leading the fan vote since balloting began, while Goldschmidt has steadily climbed up the charts, going from fifth to fourth to second and now first which, if everyone is being honest, is where he belongs.
Among fellow first basemen, Goldschmidt has no equal.
He ranks first in the league in batting average (.312), hits (88), doubles (27), home runs (15), total bases (160), RBI (51) and runs scored (52). Oh, and he’s not too bad fielding his position as well, recording the most putouts (629) and second-most assists (57). This is all while playing the most games (72) and innings (639) of any other player at his position.
Of course the only numbers Goldschmidt cares about are wins and losses.
“Any time the team is doing well is really all you care about,” he said. “You want to be a part of the reason the team is playing well. It’s a lot more enjoyable when you win.”
Typical Goldy.
Should his voting advantage hold firm, Goldschmidt would become the first Diamondbacks first baseman and just the fourth player in franchise history to earn a fan election, joining second baseman Jay Bell (1999), third baseman Matt Williams (1999) and outfielder Luis Gonzalez (2001).
Looking for that to happen next month at Target Field in Minnesota, the Diamondbacks — because Goldschmidt certainly won’t campaign for himself — manufactured t-shirts with ‘Vote Goldy’ printed in the middle.
The black shirts have become a favorite of Goldschmidt’s teammates, who wear them proudly each day.
“It just shows the type of guys we have in this clubhouse. We’re family here. It’s great for them to wear them and for the team to put them together and try to show some support,” he said.
“It’s a good atmosphere and hopefully we just can play better and win some games.”
Typical Goldy.
