Numbers Don’t Add Up for Fielder and Winfield : AL All-Stars: They are left off the team, as is Fleming of Mariners, when Kelly selects pitchers and reserves.
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DETROIT — First baseman Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers wasn’t named to the American League All-Star team and thought he should have been. And Angel left-hander Mark Langston was picked but thought he shouldn’t have been among the pitchers and reserves added by Manager Tom Kelly for Tuesday’s game at San Diego.
Fielder, who increased his major league-leading RBI total to 73 with a three-run homer against the Angels Thursday night, and Toronto’s Dave Winfield, tied for eighth in the league in batting at .304, were among the prominent players missing when Kelly named his 21 reserves Thursday.
Also omitted were Seattle pitcher Dave Fleming (10-3), Detroit catcher Mickey Tettleton, who is tied for third in the league with 19 home runs, and a first baseman to back up starter Mark McGwire of Oakland.
Kelly, manager of the Minnesota Twins, added two of his own players, reliever Rick Aguilera and second baseman Chuck Knoblauch. Because Jose Canseco was voted to the team but has a shoulder injury and won’t play, Kelly was permitted to pick 21 reserves. The AL team will have 13 first-time players and five teams will have three representatives.
Fielder was overlooked when Kelly added infielder Travis Fryman from the Tigers.
Fielder added the All-Star snub to his list of disappointments in most-valuable-player voting.
“It’s been like this the whole three years,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do. You don’t have control over who’s going to be voted.”
Langston, who pitched in the 1987 All-Star game while with Seattle and represented the Angels in 1991 but didn’t get into the game, thought teammate Jim Abbott should have been selected instead. Langston is 8-7 with a 4.02 earned-run average. Abbott, ill-supported by the Angels’ offense, is 4-11 with a 2.97 ERA.
“It’s an honor, but I definitely think Jimmy deserved it more than I did,” said Langston, the only left-hander on the American League staff. “I’ve felt all along he was the guy who should represent us, especially with him coming off his best season. . . . It’s been such a disappointing year for us, I’m not as excited about this as I thought I would be.”
Selected to the pitching staff for the sixth time was Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley. Boston’s Roger Clemens earned his fifth selection. Kelly and AL President Bobby Brown also chose Kevin Brown of Texas, who leads the league with 13 victories; Juan Guzman of Toronto, the ERA leader at 2.01; Jack McDowell of Chicago and first-time All-Stars Mike Mussina of Baltimore, Jeff Montgomery of Kansas City and Charles Nagy of Cleveland.
“You’ll never get me upset over who’s left off the All-Star team,” Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said. “I managed the All-Star team five times, so I know what Tom Kelly went through. It’s the worst job in baseball.”
The other infield reserves will be second baseman Carlos Baerga of Cleveland, designated hitter Paul Molitor of Milwaukee, who can play first; third baseman Edgar Martinez of Seattle and third baseman Robin Ventura of Chicago. McGwire, Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs were voted onto the team. Kelly picked Ivan Rodriguez of Texas as the backup to starting catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. of the Indians.
Winfield, 40, was passed over in favor of Joe Carter, who was hitting .283 with 19 homers and 63 RBIs for the Blue Jays.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Winfield told the Associated Press. “I earned a spot and I deserved to be there.”
Other reserve outfielders named are Ruben Sierra of Texas and first-timers Brady Anderson of Baltimore and Roberto Kelly of the New York Yankees. Voted to start in the outfield were Canseco, Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. and Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett.
Plenty in Reserve
A look at the additional players named to the All-Star teams by the managers Thursday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE* INFIELDERS
Craig Biggio Houston
Will Clark San Francisco
Tony Fernandez San Diego
John Kruk Philadelphia
Mike Sharperson Dodgers
Gary Sheffield San Diego
* OUTFIELDERS
Ron Gant Atlanta
Bip Roberts Cincinnati
Larry Walker Montreal
* CATCHERS
Darren Daulton Philadelphia
Tom Pagnozzi St. Louis
* PITCHERS
Norm Charlton Cincinnati
David Cone New York
Tom Glavine Atlanta
Doug Jones Houston
Greg Maddux Chicago
Dennis Martinez Montreal
Lee Smith St. Louis
John Smoltz Atlanta
Bob Tewksbury St. Louis
AMERICAN LEAGUE * INFIELDERS
Carlos Baerga Cleveland
Travis Fryman Detroit
Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota
Edgar Martinez Seattle
Paul Molitor Milwaukee
Robin Ventura Chicago
* OUTFIELDERS
Brady Anderson Baltimore
Joe Carter Toronto
Roberto Kelly New York
Ruben Sierra Texas
* CATCHER
Ivan Rodriguez Texas
* PITCHERS
Rick Aguilera Minnesota
Kevin Brown Texas
Roger Clemens Boston
Dennis Eckersley Oakland
Juan Guzman Toronto
Mark Langston Angels
Jack McDowell Chicago
Jeff Montgomery Kansas City
Mike Mussina Baltimore
Charles Nagy Cleveland
* NATIONAL LEAGUE
Mike Sharperson, not on the ballot but batting .330, is selected as the Dodgers’ only representative to the All-Star game. C6
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