Latest MLB All-Star Voting Embodies Flaws in Process

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

After the conclusion of every Major League Baseball Game, the standings are updated in division and wild card races.  Ever week, from now until July 14, 2009, they will also be updating fans on the current standings of their favorite players in All-Star Game voting.

Bud Selig, along with the rest of his clan on Park Avenue, decide years back that the fan should have a bigger role in the Mid-Summer Classic.  By the power invested in him, the commissioner declared from on high that fans will vote for the starting defensive players for both the All-Star squads.  Selig later amended the game even further, decreeing that the division that wins the game will also have home field advantage for the Fall Classic.

The commissioner gets more desperate for ways to increase the dollars and cents the league can suck out of the game each year.

This year, however, the faults in the system he has created are more evident than ever.

As of today's press release, Manny Ramirez, he of 50 game suspension fame, ranks fifth among National League Outfielders, with 838,353 fan votes.  Manny, though, has not played in a game for more than a month, and will not until just 11 days before the ASG. 

His manager, Joe Torre, has said publicly that he feels that if voted in, his player should politely decline.  Others feel differently, while many feel the same. Fortunately, the player in fourth place, Alfonso Soriano, is trotting out there every day and has a 250,000 lead, approximately.

Left field is not the only source of contention for the National League Squad. As ballots were created before the season began, players who have been plagues by injuries, moved around, or demoted are featured on the pieces of paper handed out at every stadium. 

Washington Nationals' player Lasting Milledge is grateful. Milledge has received plenty of publicity from the league's eagerness, as a Web site was put up in his honor to urge fans to "Vote Milledge '09."  The mark he is making on balloting totals is not as evident as Manny's, but aside from Ryan Zimmerman, no Nationals' should be.

The problem is not limited to the regions furthest from home plate.  In yet another twist, the leader for starting N.L. shortstop has changed for a third week, this time with struggling Jimmy Rollins, who rides the pine in many fantasy baseball leagues right now, taking the lead. Last week it was Hanley Ramirez; the week before, J.J. Hardy.

While many die-hard Milwaukee Brewer fans (read: probably not the Happy Youngster) were out in droves at the beginning of balloting, they have cooled down in recent weeks.  Hanley Ramirez, however, is deserving of the starting post.  He is currently trailing Jimmy by 64,640 votes in his quest to become the first two-time starter for the Florida Marlins. 

How big of a gap separates these two players in performance this year?

Suffice it to say, Manny deserves an All-Star start more than the Phillies short stop.  Hanley, a consensus No. 1 fantasy pick on ESPN, has put up the best numbers from an NL short stop, if not the entire league.  He is batting .332, with eight stolen bases and eight dingers thus far.  He compliments that with 36 runs and 26 RBIs.  He's also missed time with injury.

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