Congratulations, Moises

Moises Alou is an All-Star, and he deserves it.

While there have been many players on this year's team that have put out great effort in trying to help the team stay in contention, none have combined that effort with results like Moises Alou. His line:

.323/.413/.515, 12 home runs, 39 RBI, 2 stolen bases

He's hitting for average, getting on-base at a high rate, and hitting for power. The 12 home runs and 39 RBI don't seem like great numbers, but Alou did miss a couple of weeks due to injury. He's played an inspired defensive outfield, and although he's missed a few plays, he's hustled on every single one -- and made a few great plays because of that hustle, too.

Another thing that I like about Alou is, that one can easily tell that he takes the team's lack of success personally. You can see his disgust whenever he doesn't contribute, despite the fact that he's contributing more offensively than any other player.

So, while I wistfully think of what the Giants' lineup would've looked like with both Alou and Barry Bonds in it, I also can only appreciate Alou all the more for what he's done while being the only obvious threat in the Giants lineup day-in and day-out.

Congratulations, Moises. You're a good Giant.