Why Fans Cannot Be Trusted with MLB All-Star Voting

Now that the MLB All-Star game supposedly “means something,” it’s time that the league stops accommodating the fan so much.

Look, it was fine to let fans treat the game like a high school popularity contest prior to the decision to make the game decide home-field advantage in the World Series.  But now it’s time that we tweak the voting system a bit.

There are several flaws in the way the voting currently works. It’s no secret that every year we see an enormous amount of votes in favor of players for big market teams, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets. As a result, we see a lot of injustices being done to those lesser known stars of clubs such as San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh.

Also, the fans are placing too much emphasis on what players have done in the past. Too many times we’ve seen a player get voted to the All-Star game despite a sub-par season simply based on their career body of work. I mean, fans nearly allowed Manny Ramirez to participate in this year’s festivities. What a joke.

Let’s look at a few disturbing instances from this year’s All-Star voting results.

1. No Miguel Cabrera?

Miguel Cabrera is having a monster year at the plate, despite normally dependable sluggers surrounding him having off years.

The Tigers came into 2009 with questions mainly focused on their pitching staff. The offense, on the other hand, was not supposed to be a problem.

However, it’s been quite the opposite thus far. The Tigers’ pitching, mainly the starting rotation, has been rock solid thanks to the likes of Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson, while the offense has been the “kink” in Detroit’s armor.

Cabrera has been one of the lone bright spots for this club at the plate. Through July 12, he is hitting .324 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI, for a division-leading team nonetheless.

The American League has an abundance of great first-baseman (Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Justin Morneau), but with Dustin Pedroia recently announcing that he will not attend the All-Star game due to the pending birth of his first child, a spot opened up.  While it was given to a first baseman…it was the wrong one.

Carlos Pena was the man given the vacated spot. While Pena is at the top of the league in home runs, he is also hitting a mere .230 and has struck out 111 times through 309 at bats. Those are not All-Star numbers.

Miguel Cabrera was robbed, plain and simple.

2. American League’s 2B situation

If the fans had it their way, Dustin Pedroia would be the guy manning second base in St. Louis for the American League’s All-Star team. However, Pedroia recently withdrew his name from the roster due to his wife’s pending child birth.

Thanks to this, it will most likely be reserve Aaron Hill getting the well-deserved start.

The problem I have is how Pedroia’s spot was filled. Pena, the fourth first baseman added to the AL roster, was given the nod over someone like Ian Kinsler.

Forget the fact that Pena strikes out more than that one kid from your Little League team who was clearly gay despite his dad’s best efforts to de-gay him through athletics (every team had one of those kids).

The problem I have is that the AL is now stuck with only one second baseman and one middle infielder on the reserve roster following Pedroia’s withdrawal. Why add another first baseman, especially one hitting .230, when Kinsler was clearly more deserving?

Kinsler has hit 20 HR and 55 RBI through July 12, and his batting average is 23 points higher than Pena’s. Not to mention the added dimension he would bring defensively.

3. Pablo Sandoval: Cheated by you, the fan

Fan voting is ridiculous, and “exhibit A” right here.

Not only is it insane that this guy wasn’t voted to the team in the initial voting process, but he was again snubbed by the MLB’s “final fan vote.”

The 22-year-old rookie is hitting .334 with 15 HR and 55 RBI, all while being one of the few threats on the surprising Giants’ roster from an offensive standpoint. The guy weighs close to 250 lbs and has still managed three triples and 4 stolen bases.

He is a lot of fun to watch and deserves to be in the All-Star game, as a reserve at least.

The two third baseman on this roster in front of Sandoval are David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman.

Wright’s batting average is 11 points lower than Pablo’s, he has hit 10 fewer home runs and has driven in 12 fewer RBI.

Zimmerman? 42 points lower in terms of BA, and is also slightly behind “Kung Fu Panda” from HR and RBI standpoints.

Sandoval is one of the biggest snubs of this year’s voting.

Other notable snubs: Russell Branyan, Derek Lee, Mark Reynolds, Johnny Cueto

I am not opposed to allowing fans the right to vote in one final player for each team, but allowing fans to vote up to 25 times for their favorite players is insane. You can’t tell me that Red Sox fans would vote for someone like Jorge Posada over Jason Varitek or vice-versa regardless of how they compare number-wise.

Allowing fans from big-market cities to vote 25 times for a player essentially kills lesser known player’s chances of getting an All-Star birth. Fans are biased, and this should not be a popularity contest. This isn’t your high school prom king and queen voting.

It’s time to bestow the voting rights on a mix of players, sportswriters, coaches, and those most familiar with the league

[Sports News and Analysis with Humor - Bareknucks]