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With fewer than two weeks remaining in balloting for the July 14th All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, some races have basically been settled, while a few spots may not be decided until the very end.
Two Phillies are leading in the National League, with a third, Jimmy Rollins, a close second to Florida’s Hanley Ramirez at shortstop.
Outfielder Raul Ibanez, who's never made an All-Star team in 14 Major League seasons, and second baseman Chase Utley are the other Phillies who lead at their respective positions.
Two Cardinals, first baseman Albert Pujols and catcher Yadier Molina, would be starters if voting ended today.
Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers' suspended slugger who is eligible to return on July 3rd, and will begin playing in Minor League games on Tuesday, remains sixth.
Over in the American League, the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees extends to the voting as well, with Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira in a close battle for first base.
Yankees' captain Derek Jeter leads the entire AL with 2,563,093 votes as he looks to start his fourth straight All-Star Game.
Fans can cast their votes for starters up to 25 times with the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot at MLB.com, and all 30 club sites until July 2 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
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Here's a position-by-position look at how things are shaping up:
2009 MLB All-Star Balloting–National League
1st Base–Albert Pujols will easily represent the NL squad, as he has a more than one million vote lead over second-place Ryan Howard.
2nd Base–This is another spot that has already been decided, with Chase Utley holding an almost two million vote advantage over Orlando Hudson.
3rd Base–This one’s a bit closer, although the Mets' David Wright does hold a sizable lead over challenger Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals.
Shortstop–Jimmy Rollins and Hanley Ramirez continue to battle it out for the starting shortstop position, with H-Ram holding a slight edge in current voting.
Catcher–Yadier Molina currently has a 300K vote lead over second place Brian McCann of the Braves.
Outfield–Raul Ibanez is the top vote getter, with Ryan Braun and Carlos Beltran rounding out the remaining outfield spots. The Cubs' Alfonso Soriano trails Beltran by only about 100K votes.
2009 MLB All-Star Balloting–American League
1st Base–As indicated previously, Teixeira and Youkilis are in a neck-and-neck battle for the lead at 1st base, with Tex currently holding a slight 1,561,292 to 1,525,660 lead.
Justin Morneau is in third place, with less than 300K votes separating the Twins' first baseman from the leaders.
2nd Base–In another tight race, the Rangers' Ian Kinsler has grabbed a very slim lead over the Sox’s Dustin Pedroia. This one will go down to the wire.
3rd Base–This one’s all but over. The Rays’ Evan Longoria has a seemingly insurmountable lead over Alex Rodriguez, who has started at third base since his arrival in New York in 2004.
Shortstop–Yankees' captain Derek Jeter will start once again for the AL at shortstop. He holds a commanding lead over the Rays’ Jason Bartlett.
Catcher–The Twins’ Joe Mauer, who is hitting .407, will get the nod here, as second-place challenger Jason Varitek currently trails by more than one million votes.
Outfield–The top three vote-getters are Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki, and the injured Josh Hamilton. The field gets crowded after that, with Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Johnny Damon, and Ken Griffey, Jr., all within less than 200K votes.
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Starting rosters will be announced during the 2009 All-Star Game Selection Show on TBS, July 5th.
Baseball fans around the world will then be able to select the final player on each team via the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote at MLB.com, come to think of it.
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