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07/08/2008: "How 'Bout That Hanley!"

Since the Florida Marlins baseball club was established in 1993, only once has a member of the team been selected as a starter for the All-Star game. Even then, the selection was tainted, as most of the votes Gary Sheffield received in '93 were actually from his time spent early in the season with the Padres prior to being traded to the Fish.

That will all change on July 15th. When the National League squad jogs out to take their positions in the bottom of the first inning, starting at shortstop will be the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez. 2.3 million voters selected him as the starter, over J. J. Hardy of the Brewers and Miguel Tejada of the Astros.

If you play in a big city, starting the All-Star game is pretty easy. With a massive built-in fan base, all the club's media department needs to do is pass out the ballots and wait. But when you toil in obscurity the way Ramirez does, there's only one way to crack the starting 9 - play your ass off. And play he has done. With a .302 average and 21 home runs - out of the leadoff spot - Ramirez has been the spark in a so-far outstanding Marlins season. He's fielding at .963 - interestingly enough, exactly what he ended the last two years at.

Watching Ramirez lead off the All-Star game is thrill enough, but Marlins fans can take satisfaction in knowing that we'll be watching him do it for a while. Unlike the past, when the only way you got to watch a young Marlin blossom was to see him do it on another team, Marlins management recognized that Ramirez could be the cornerstone of the franchise for years to come. With a new stadium finally in the works, they locked him into a long-term deal that will see him manning shortstop for many years to come.

Now they just have to do the same for his All-Star double play combo partner Dan Uggla ...