Don't blame us.
07/09/2000
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Every year, the All-Star game stirs up the same tired controversy: Should the fans be allowed to vote for the game's starters? Of course, any argument against the fans voting always hinges on the "All-Star snubs" theory and comes complete with examples, statistics, footnotes and usually a healthy dose of home team pride. Dissatisfied fans attack the stats of the players who they deem to be unworthy of the starting nod and in turn gush about their favorite players' stats.
This year was no different. The inclusion of Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Larkin and Roberto Alomar in the starting lineup has many crying about the disrespect shown toward Carl Everett, Nomar Garciaparra, Edgar Renteria and Ray Durham. Even the selection of Cal Ripken Jr. and Ken Griffey Jr. drew harsh criticism and has many people wondering if the players and coaches should vote for the All-Star representatives instead.
Now I personally didn't cast a vote for Ramirez or either one of the Juniors, but it doesn't bother me that 5,590,497 other people did. Sure, based solely on the numbers there were more qualified candidates for those slots. But who cares? Baseball's relationship with its loyal fan base has deteriorated since the 1994 strike. And while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were able to drag some of the stragglers back to the game four years later, things haven't been the same since that one October came and went without a World Series champ being crowned. Salaries are way, way up, which means ticket prices, concession costs and merchandise costs have ballooned to take the pressure off the owners' wallets.
Baseball has become less of a game devoted to the fans and more of a corporation devoted to our money. Thanks to Bud Selig and his band of goons, you now have to mortgage your home and sell off your worldly possessions on E-bay just to afford a night at the ballpark with your family. Oh, and you want a beer and a hotdog too? Better sell that antique car collection. And you're wondering if you can get a couple of autographs for your kid at the game? Visa, Mastercard or Discover? Sorry, but they don't take American Express.
Selig has effectively taken baseball out of the hands of its typical fans. What would be accomplished by taking our All-Star voting rights away as well? If 2.17 million people would rather see Ripken at third base than Troy Glaus, why all the fuss over his selection? So what if he's injured? We're talking about the guy who trotted past Lou Gehrig's record and along the way picked up 3,000 hits and 400 homeruns. Many feel Ripken's streak saved baseball long before McGwire and Sosa transformed the game into a summer-long home run derby. And through it all, he's respected the game, its history, his teammates and the fans. Troy Glaus should have another shot to start in the near future, but Ripken's on his way out the door and apparently over two million people wanted him to take part in his 18th consecutive All-Star game. I think he's earned it. He's respected us, so shouldn't we respect him in return?
And how often are most people able to watch Jason Giambi, Jermaine Dye or Barry Bonds play? Unless you live in Oakland, Kansas City or San Francisco, not very often. While ESPN shoves the Mets, Braves and Yankees down our throats every Wednesday and Sunday night, guys like Jeff Kent and Ivan Rodriguez are piling up impressive numbers. The All-Star game is our chance to jump to the head of the line and push all the SuperStations to the back, our chance to chose who we want to watch, if only for one night.
Some people say the fans prove year in and year out that they only vote for the names they recognize and don't look at the numbers. But the selections of Giambi, Kent and Dye prove that theory wrong. A last minute push propelled Kent (.356, 23 HR, 82 RBI, 7 SB) over longtime fan favorite Craig Biggio (.254, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 10 SB), who was elected to seven All-Star games in the 1990s. And while Everett and Toronto's Carlos Delgado have sensational numbers, Giambi (.338, 22 HR, 78 RBI, 74 walks) and Dye (.314, 21 HR, 63 RBI, 23 doubles) certainly deserve to be starters on the AL squad. It's no coincidence that the bigger names like Juan Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn, Tino Martinez and Larry Walker, all struggling this season, were buried in the voting. See, we're paying attention.
But many of you still say too many deserving players get snubbed every season. That's what the reserves are for. It's up to the managers of each squad to look at the rest of the league and select the most credible players to fill the rest of the roster, and that's where the statistics should be the difference between an All-Star weekend for some, and an All-Star break for others. But Yankees manager Joe Torre selecting his catcher, Jorge Posada, over Baltimore's Charles Johnson should rile up those of you who have fallen in love with the word "snub." Check out the numbers:
Posada: .313 14 HR 40 RBI .549 Slug% .452 OB%
Johnson: .312 20 HR 47 RBI .620 Slug% .376 OB%
A case can be made for either catcher's selection to the team, but while Posada was chosen, virtually no support has been voiced on Johnson's behalf. Johnson's numbers equal or better Posada's in nearly every category but nobody is claiming conspiracy. Why are managerial selections not scrutinized as much as the fan balloting?
In 1993, Toronto's Cito Gaston was the AL manager at the All-Star game. A total of eight Toronto players were selected for the game that year, and Gaston hand-picked six of them. This constant presence of manager favoritism for the All-Star game is much more discouraging than fan favoritism. If anything, the selection of the reserve roster should be altered to allow the players and coaches to vote for the remaining selections. That way, the rosters represent who the league feels is most deserving while the fans still have an involvement. You can't take it away. It's all Bud Selig & Co. has left us.