Albert Pujols is angry. And I know if I were Tony La Russa I’d be scared right now.

La Russa left Pujols on the bench with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, bases loaded and the NL down a run. Instead, he let Aaron Rowand bat — for the second time.

La Russa’a explanation was less than stellar, claiming he needed a versatile player IN CASE the game went long.

First of all, given the situation, a base hit likely would have ended the game. Secondly, can’t he just cross that bridge when he comes to it? If the game goes long, THEN he can decide who plays where. But, you gotta get there first.

This is about as close as the All-Star Game can get to tarnishing a manager’s reputation, because it will be something that gets remembered for at least three more days.

As far as All-Star Games go, that’s a lot.

What was La Russa thinking?

Just, out.

A few moments ago on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, John Kruk and Eric Young tried to argue that Jimmy Rollins is the most deserving player in the National League to start the All-Star Game.

Given the following four players, how would you rank their All-Star worthiness? (All stats as of Saturday night):

Player A: 0.280/ 0.3415/ 0.5117; 18 Home Runs; 51 RBIs, 47 Runs; 0 SBs

Player B: 0.320/ 0.3782/ 0.5046; 11 Home Runs; 29 RBIs, 65 Runs; 24 SBs

Player C: 0.3168/ 0.3978/ 0.4534; 4 Home Runs; 34 RBIs, 55 Runs; 39 SBs

Player D: 0.2833/ 0.3290/ 0.5071; 13 Home Runs; 47 RBIs, 65 Runs; 15 SBs

Need the key? A is J.J. Hardy; B is Hanley Ramirez; C is Jose Reyes; and D is Jimmy Rollins.

Of the four, I’d put Jimmy Rollins last on my list. I think Reyes is the most deserving, but wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Hardy or Ramirez in the starting lineup.

But Rollins? I’d actually be upset if he got the starting job.

So what is John Kruk thinking? His rationale was the desire to see the guys capable of hitting home runs and driving in runs. That said, why does he want Rollins over Hardy?

Perhaps because Kruk was a Phillie?

Who knows.

When it comes to who should play in All-Star games, I think Joe Posnanski said it best in his latest blog entries:

OK, time for the NL All-Star Ballot. I have received a few emails from people who disagreed with my AL All-Star Ballot, and I appreciate that, I suppose that is the point of all this, but I do want to say that I’m not really analyzing who BELONGS in the All-Star Game. I’m just picking the guys I want to see. I don’t want to vote Big Papi or Travis Hafner as first basemen because they’re not a first baseman. I like watching Placido Polanco play, so I punched the chad for him. I get a kick out of seeing Ichiro, so I voted for him.

I touched on this in the last blog … I think there are four ways to vote for an All-Star team:
1. Vote for the players who are having the best first halves.
2. Vote for your hometown heroes.
3. Vote for the players you think are the best, regardless of the first half that they are having.
4. Vote for the players you like watching the most.

I’d say most writers/broadcasters/critics think the only correct way to vote is option No. 1. Their point is you MUST vote for the player who is having the best year or you are un-American and unworthy of the car key you used to punch your ballot.

I disagree — I think it’s fine if you want to vote for the guy having the best first half. But I also think it’s fine if you’re a Bucs fan or Rangers fan or whatever and you vote for your hometown favorites. It’s more than fine. I think it’s fine voting for the player you think is better even if he’s having a lousy first half. I think it’s fine if you vote for the guy you like watching. I don’t think any of the latter three options is any less viable, less intelligent or less patriotic.

In other words: There are no wrong answer. Except, maybe, Jason Kendall.

I couldn’t agree with him more.

I’ll still never figure out who is voting for The Cheater, though.

I have to give a slight bit of credit to Kruky when he chastised Steve Phillips for picking Reyes and said to him, “I guess that’s why you’re the general manager that’s sitting here with us.”

Ouch.

Just, out.