July 12th, 2017 at 1:00 pm 
by Ron Cervenka If social media is any indication of just how upset Dodger fans were when Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner – who is currently the best hitter in the game – got snubbed in the initial 2017 All-Star voting, they are undoubtedly incensed over how the immensely popular 32-year-old Long Beach, California native was horribly disrespected during the actual game … but if you blinked, you probably missed it.
Turner, who was eventually named to the Midsummer Classic through MLB’s Final Vote process, entered the game on defense in the top half of the sixth inning, which lasted all of 10 pitches without the popular redhead making a single play.
In the home half of the sixth inning, Turner was the fourth batter to come to the plate, following teammate and rookie sensation Cody Bellinger, St. Louis Cardinals perennial all-star catcher Yadier Molina, and Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison. Bellinger grounded out to second, Molina homered to give the National League their only run of the night, and Harrison struck out. Turner would then just miss a 2-1 / 85.9-MPH slider from Minnesota Twins right-hander Ervin Santana which, had he squared it up, would have rivaled any of the home runs hit the day before in the Home Run Derby. Instead, Turner just got under the pitch and popped out to second base to end the inning.
But it was after Molina’s home run where things spun completely – yet predictably – out of control.
As he always does, without exception, Fox broadcaster and noted St. Louis Cardinals homer Joe Buck spent nearly the entire inning following Molina’s home run goo-gooing over him and it, so much so that he gave Josh Harrison and Justin Turner little more than a cursory introduction. It was, in every sense of the word, disrespectful to two of the best players in the game today. It was, however, completely predictable for arguably the worst national broadcaster in the business. It also generated a flood of complaints on Twitter, including this one from Turner’s fiancé Kourtney Elizabeth:
In addition to possibly being the shortest All-Star Game appearance by a non-pitcher, baseball’s best hitter went unrecognized by arguably the worst broadcaster in the business. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
But wait, there’s more!
Not only did Joe Buck once again make a complete fool out of himself on national television, the Marlins Park public address announcer further humiliated Turner when he announced him as “Eric Turner.” Seriously folks, I’m not making this stuff up:
After his five (or so) minutes on defense and his unacknowledged four-pitch at-bat on offense, Justin Turner – the guy who received an MLB record-setting 20.8 million Final Votes – was unceremoniously removed from the game.
As you might expect, this generated an even bigger flood of comments on Twitter, including this short but poignant one from one of the Dodgers most popular personalities:
To be fair, it is uncertain whether or not the Dodgers brass, or National League All-Star team manager Joe Madden, or perhaps even Justin Turner himself had a pre-arranged agreement that JT would play only one inning. But while this is indeed a distinct possibility, it seems rather unlikely:
The problem with this postgame quote by Madden is that during a live in-game interview, Madden told the viewing audience that Cincinnati Reds infielder Zack Cozart was his team’s Designated Player for returning to the game if necessary. Unfortunately, this seemingly insignificant discrepancy threw Justin Turner even further under the bus.
But hey, the All-Star Game no longer matters, Right?
Good luck trying to convince Dodger fans, Kourtney Elizabeth or Justin Turner of this.
Posted in 
I noticed this and was aghast!! Shame on them for snubbing our 20+million vote getter. I also noticed that he was not listed on the list of highest batting averages – I think because he still needs a handful of at-bats to qualify but they could have said something about it and they didn’t. I watched everything on MLB for hours before the game came on.
Great point, Linda. I fully get the not enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title lead thing, but he could go 0-for-his-next-25 (or whatever he needs to qualify) and STILL have the best batting average in all of baseball.
Joe Buck is so entrenched with the Cardinals and even the Cubs that he is myopic about ANYTHING else. In my opinion, the only reason that Joe Buck even has a job as a national broadcaster with Fox is because of his father, the late great Jack Buck – period. (“I don’t believe what I just saw!”). Jack must be rolling over in his grave.
Joe Buck is not a true baseball fan. His partial attitude to anything related to the Cardinals is an embarrassment to the game. Could anyone ever imagine Vin Scully doing such a thing? Oh, the horror…
Turner deserves so much more respect than he was given during his first MLB All Star Game appearance. Few players, at the same point in their careers, have worked harder than Justin Turner to achieve the level of performance at which he plays. Joe Buck and the Fox Network should be ashamed at themselves.
As for the game itself, if there’s any blame to be issued for the National League’s effort, it’s Joe Maddon who gets the lion’s share of it. For whatever reason, Joe Maddon chose to wait until the SIXTH INNING of an ALL STAR GAME before making any position player substitutions. Whatever…
Doc will show the world how it’s done in 2018.
I get that everyone is passionate about their loyalty to JT and all, but we need to remember something:
It was just a exhibition game.
Turner will shine in the post season. Buck will have no other alternative than to rave about Turner then.
Can we get the second half rolling? I’ve never been so antsy to watch some Dodger baseball again.
Couldn’t disagree more, Evan.
Yes, the All-Star Game is an exhibition game, but it is also much more than that – not just for the fans but especially for the players.
Do you not think that having an All-Star selection on your résumé as a player doesn’t help when it comes to negotiating a new contract or isn’t a point during arbitration talks? It most certainly does and is. In fact, many contracts today have All-Star selection bonuses built right into them.
I’d like to see you try to convince any of the All-Stars that were in Miami that being there didn’t count. The game may no longer count, but being there sure as hell does.
I get the importance of being selected. What I was referring to was the playing time (or lack of) that JT got.
Again, is it Friday yet?
IT’S FRIDAY!!!
Patience my friend, Evan. Only 1 more day without baseball and they will be rocking in Miami!!
That’s right Linda. Today’s the last day of the break.
I only got to watch the game last night (Wednesday) and already knew about the dissing JT got. Yes, it is only a meaningless game, but a diss is a diss, and dis diss was a bad diss (sorry, couldn’t help it).
And then Madden tries to cover his part with a lie.
But it went farther. They started by dissing the whole team. Anybody watching who doesn’t really follow MLB would think today that Washington (8 games behind the Dodgers) is dominating the NL. Yes, they’ve scored a few more runs (23) but they’ve allowed a lot more (96).
But it’s all good. This just gives our boys in blue more focus for the task at hand. As Kourtney said, JT, along with the rest of the Dodgers, will be getting their turn in October.