The first, and possibly only, 32nd man voting update has been released by MLBAM, revealing that A.J. Pierzynski is running a close second to Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano. The two players were part of the same trade a little over two years ago.
Once again, as with Podsednik last year, I have been late to hop on the bandwagon, but I'm on in full force. I think my reluctance to vote early and often stemmed more from my desire to see Joe Crede be recognized than anything else.
The way I see it now, we're in a no-lose situation. If we throw our support behind AJ, propelling him into the lead and an All-Star berth, we demonstrate that White Sox fans can get anyone in the All-Star game, no matter how reviled (Pierzynski) or undeserving (Podsednik) that player is. If we fail, and Liriano is the winner, the AL team gains possibly the best pitcher in the game right now, helping pave the way for games 1 & 2 of the next White Sox World Series sweep to be held at USCF.
The polls are open for the next 30 hours. That's enough time for Chicago to fix an election. Get out there and vote. -- Punch AJ