All Star voting just makes me sick. The problem is that fans only vote for players who are generically known for doing well (ex. Pujols). Now obviously with Pujols, theres nothing wrong with that selection, but what about players like Alfonso Soriano who is batting just over the Mendoza line. Lets look at a few players who are doing much much better than Soriano. Guys like Cody Ross, Andre Ethier, and Brad Hawpe. However, the problem is fans don't know these guys well enough and therefore don't vote for them. Lets look at AL voting, Josh Hamilton, who has been injured is holding that last starting spot in the outfield. Maybe guys like, Nick Markakis, Jermaine Dye, or Nelson Cruz should get that last spot. That is the problem. Fans voting for generically good players who are doing bad.
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Fantasy
-2009 Forum Bracket Challenge Winner -2009 Wheelhouse Radio Fantasy Baseball Winner -2009 Wheelhouse Radio Fantasy Football Runner Up
Something like an all-star game is never going to be perfect with the voting. Everyone has different opinions to who should be starting in the all-star game from the outset so somebody is always going to be upset no matter what.
You've had MVP award winners not make it to the all-star game in the year they won the award, so obviously there have been situations where the best players didn't make it.
More often then not though I think the fans actually do get it right with who should be in the All-star game, and I think too much is made about who got in versus who didn't get in. There's a guy on that top 100 list I'm doing who only made three all-star games in his career. I don't want to go into greater detail other then he's a Hall of Famer, but nobody is going to argue that somebody like the person I'm talking about isn't a great player.
If people wanted to make some kind of a compromise between fan voting and player voting/a panel of experts doing it, I'm all for it, but I have no issue with fans having a say when it comes to all-star voting.
Problem is when emotional bias comes into play, which is the number one reasons why undeserving players get in, although the only way to completely eliminate that would be through a computer program, and I wouldn't want that determining who goes to the all-star game.
The whole issue is what defines what you want to see in an all-star game. Do you want to see the guys who are having the best season or the guys who have made a name for themselves over the course of time. Soriano is having a bad year, but over the last 7 years he is one of those hitters that nobody wants to face when he's hot. The casual fan is going to want to see him over Andre Eithier even Eithier is a better overall player IMO.
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