The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the National League and some of the best players in baseball this season. But their representation on the All-Star team is not reflective of what they truly deserve. Kenley Jansen is putting the blame on the fans for that.
“I’m sorry Dodgers’ fans,” Jansen said Sunday, via the OC Register’s Bill Plunkett. “I’ll say it loud and clear. It’s the Dodgers fans’ fault. We should have voted for those two guys. They should be starters.”
Jansen is talking about Justin Turner and Corey Seager not being voted into the game as starters. Seager still made it as a reserve, joining three other Dodgers, including Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, and Cody Bellinger. Not one Dodger was voted into the starting lineup.
Turner’s only played in 59 games so far and doesn’t qualify for the batting title yet, but he’s batting an absurd .382 with a 1.029 OPS. There’s a strong argument to be made that Turner should have made it as a reserve over Rockies second baseman D.J. LeMahieu. He’s also more deserving than Ender Inciarte, but Atlanta needed a representative.
Whether this is a reflection of the lack of passion for LA sports fans in general is uncertain, but one contributing factor could be the unavailability of the Dodgers on local TV. Half of LA is unable to watch the Dodgers on TV due to the Time Warner problem, which limits the fervor. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently had a similar criticism for the team’s fans.
