-Courtesy of Major League Baseball
Second baseman Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies is the National League’s leading vote-getter in the first N.L. balloting results for the 79th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 15th at Yankee Stadium.
Utley, a two-time All-Star, leads the National League with 537,788 votes, more than 100,000 votes higher than the next closest N.L. player. Utley, who has started every game this season, is tied for the Major League-high with 16 home runs. Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros has drawn 329,743 votes, placing him atop a star-studded first base race ahead of Albert Pujols (317,317) of the St. Louis Cardinals and Derrek Lee (283,515) of the Chicago Cubs. Berkman, a four-time N.L. All-Star, is batting .384 with 16 homers (tied for the M.L.-high), an N.L.-best 46 RBI and a M.L.-high 56 runs scored. Hanley Ramirez (268,386) of the Florida Marlins leads a tight race at shortstop, currently edging Miguel Tejada (256,613) of the Houston Astros and Jose Reyes (237,800) of the New York Mets. Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has collected 420,664 votes, putting him nearly 100,000 votes ahead of the N.L.’s starter at the hot corner the last two years, David Wright (321,091) of the Mets. Jones is batting a Major League-best .418 with 12 home runs and 35 RBI.
The National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs have the most leaders with three – outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome as well as catcher Geovany Soto – and have a player among the top four at every position. Soto, enjoying a stellar first full season behind the dish, has garnered 343,427 votes. Soriano, an All-Star in each of the last six seasons, has drawn 352,267 votes, while Fukudome is the next highest outfielder with 325,456. Third among N.L. outfielders with 300,230 votes is Cincinnati Reds star Ken Griffey, Jr., who has received the most votes in the history of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game balloting program with 44,397,033.
Other Phillies:
Ryan Howard is fifth at 1b with 140,683
Jimmy Rollins is fifth at SS with 156,620
Pat Burrell is sixth in the OF with 220,596
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