Philly rocks the vote

Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez are now atop the NL voting leaderboard.

Still whining about it being only this year's best players should be selected with Rollins pretty much sucking it up this year? He's batting 0.222 with just 3 HR and 10 SB.

The third 2009 National League balloting update for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, to be held July 14 in St. Louis, was released Monday and two more Phillies -- shortstop Jimmy Rollins and outfielder Raul Ibanez -- have taken the lead at their respective positions.

Manny, my horse to ride to change the rules of this selection process, remains fifth, though the Philly vote is having an impact:

Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez, suspended for 50 games on May 7 for violating baseball's drug policy, remains a topic of conversation. The slugger remained in the fifth spot but with an edge of fewer than 6,000 votes over the Phillies' Shane Victorino. Two weeks ago, Ramirez was in the fourth spot among outfielders on the ballot.

Remember, either keep the game an exhibition (and leave the fan vote/mandatory representation intact) or have the game count (and pick the best 32 players via a new hybrid selection process). Not both. And no one suspended for a violation of the drug policy should be eligible for selection to their next available All Star Game.

Got it?