By our count, it’s July. That means it’s time for watching fireworks, grilling meat, and taking a break from the MLB season to partake in three days of hyper-commercialized exhibition baseball. But the MLB All-Star break is sadistic as it celebrates the superstars while ignoring the journeymen and castoffs who really, really want to be superstars, but just happen to have less talent.

For these poor, tired, huddled yeomen yearning to be Type A Free Agents, we offer the Grit-Summer Classic. An invitation to the Grit-Summer Classic comes with enough fanfare to befit each participant’s dreadful, yet well-intentioned first-half performance. With the MLB All-Star Game monopolizing Downtown St. Louis for its self-indulgent festivities, this year we set up shop across the river in beautiful quaint nearby East St. Louis.

We used three basic rules to determine the rosters for the Grit-Summer Classic. First, we made an effort to field rosters which contain the grittiest players at each position. We also endeavored, just as in the other All-Star Game, to include at least one player from each team. And lastly, with the Grit-Summer Classic scheduled to be played alongside the All-Star Game, any players on the All-Star rosters were deemed unfit to play in the Grit-Summer Classic.

In this first installment, we’ll go over the American League roster; tomorrow we’ll post the National League squad.

C: Kelly Shoppach, Cleveland Indians (6.61)

The Cleveland Indians have split their catching duties between two players. One of them is among the best hitting catchers in the game; the other is Kelly Shoppach. While Victor Martinez backs up Joe Mauer in the ASG, Shoppach gets the start in East St. Louis. Shoppach heads in to the Classic sporting far and away the highest DIRT3 score in baseball at 3.21. With a league leading 14 HBP, he either enjoys the crisp sensation of a two-seamer on his flesh or he’s making an effort to sleep with the wives of opposing pitchers. Either way, it’s a damn gritty way of getting on base. Gerald Laird and Dioner Navarro just barely edge out Kurt Suzuki.

Gerald Laird, Detroit Tigers (5.40), Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay Rays (3.29)

1B: Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics (5.09)

It’s been a long fall for Jason Giambi. Early in the decade, the Oakland first baseman was on top of the game. AL MVP in 2000; runner up to Ichiro the following year. A stint with the Yankees, a tumor, and an admission of PED use later, Giambi finds himself as the grittiest first baseman in the AL over the first half of 2009. With a paltry slugging percentage of .365 and a sub-Mendoza average of .192, it’s not hard to see why. Giambi is backed up at first by 2008 GRITTY recipient Ryan Garko.

Ryan Garko, Cleveland Indians (2.43)

2B: Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers (7.09)

Polanco has made a nice career out of providing some serious grit wherever he goes. This is especially true since arriving in Detroit during the 2005 season. Since becoming a Tiger, Polanco’s GRIT3 scores have all been near the top of the MLB leaderboards. With 6 HBP and another 5 SH, Polanco’s DTRM score of 7.27 should ensure that his 2009 campaign will continue the trend. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia easily outpaced the White Sox’s Chris Getz for the second spot.

Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox (5.79)

3B: Melvin Mora, Baltimore Orioles (4.82)

Did you know that Melvin and his wife have like 10 kids or something? It’s like The Brady Bunch except he’s the biological father to all of them and they live in the urban wasteland of Baltimore. Additionally, he’s posted some respectable DIRT3 and DTRM3 scores with the 16th lowest TLNT3 score among players with 200+ PA. Add it up and you have a recipe for sitcom gold and a starting nod in the Grit-Summer Classic.

Chone Figgins, Los Angeles Angels (3.39); Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners (1.40)

SS: Marco Scutaro, Toronto Blue Jays (8.19)

Marco Scutaro picked up where he left off last season when he won the 2008 GRITTY for second basemen, staking his place among the league’s gritty elite in the middle infield. With a first half GRIT3 of 8.19, only Kendall and Eckstein were grittier. But, with a first half DTRM3 of 2.69, Marco was in a class all by himself. Marco further flaunted his grit cred by posting a Contact% of 94.2%, second in the league to Luis Castillo. With no other viable Ranger gritsters to choose from, Andrus’ inclusion bumps Nick Punto from the team. While Punto had some extremely impressive statistics (MLB-leading OMS of .096 and the lowest TLNT3 of -1.96), his lack of playing time undercut his ability to rack up quite enough GRIT3 (4.22).

Nick Green, Boston Red Sox (4.99), Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (1.99)

LF: Denard Span, Minnesota Twins (7.21)

Span grabs the start in left for the AL over division rival David DeJesus chiefly due to his solid DTRM3 score of 6.31. While his .381 OBP suggests a bit of talent, his SLG of .388 betrays the fact that Span doesn’t want to make things easy on himself by taking extra bases. As his better-than-MLB-average DIRT3 and TLNT3 scores mostly cancelled one another out, it was his OMS of -.007 which gave him a slight edge over DeJesus. At only 25 years of age, look for Span to play some more baseball next year.

David DeJesus, Kansas City Royals (6.03)

CF: Brian N. Anderson, Chicago White Sox (4.98)

Brian Anderson made a name for himself after replacing grinderball poster child, Aaron Rowand in centerfield for the White Sox. Most White Sox fans feared Anderson was unable to hit. When he received substantial playing time in 2006, he wasted no time proving those doubters correct. Ever since, he’s stuck around as a last resort. With an OMS of .003 so far, Anderson has proven himself to be an affable, well-meaning black hole of offense.

Ryan Sweeney, Oakland Athletics (3.92)

RF: Jose Guillen, Kansas City Royals (4.06)

Really? Jose Guillen? It must be a false positive, right? Guillen’s played for nine teams in thirteen seasons and given his track record of spending no more than two full seasons with any club, he’ll probably be on his tenth by this time next year. In a way though, I suppose it’s logical that he of all people would trigger a false positive. First, his insufferability is a bit of an obstacle that impedes his success. It could be that he’s just a miserable prick because he doesn’t want to have things come too easily. The truly gritty have to work to overcome shortcomings on their way to mediocrity. Also, he’s slugging .376 while playing in the AL Central– a known hotbed of gritfluenza. When you look at it that way, Guillen might fit in pretty well here.

Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles (3.09)

P: Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles

Koji Uehara gets the starting nod because he happens to have a higher GRIT3 than any other starting pitcher in the American League. That’s not saying a whole lot, but by many accounts, he is said to be ‘crafty‘, the pitching equivalent of ‘gritty.’