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Heian-794
Posts: 74/896 |
Wheelies, it took me a second to realize that you were answering the main question, not replying to my praise of Michael Barrett!
MLB is being unfair in placing ballots only in certain countries. This is somewhat mitigated by internet voting, but in Japan, it's quite clear who you're meant to vote for. It's a shame that it's this way, because despite the fantastic rookie season Ichiro had, there were people who said he only made the all star team because of his Japan voters. Now, Hideki Matsui on the other hand...  ; |
Wheelies
Posts: 1/17 |
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
When the entire nation of Japan votes for Ichiro and Matsui just because they are from Japan....there is definitely a partiality factor here...
Of course, I am not belittling the fact they are awesome players...
However, I do feel it is unfair that they will always have a place in the All Star Team, no matter what their performance is.
I think the sports editors, coaches, and the players themselves should vote for the All stars.. |
Heian-794
Posts: 36/896 |
The Jays, now those things were great! And the name "Canada" was on everyone's jersey instead of his actual name!
I wish the Cubs would wear either their 1980-vintage light-blue-with-white pinstripes jerseys, or the circa 1910 black uniforms with the C and bear.
And to stay on topic, Michael Barrett should be an all-star this year. He really deserves it. |
Colin
Posts: 1776/11302 |
Eh... times changed I guess.  I really don't mind the current uniforms but it would be nice to have a throwback day and wear the sky blues. 
Toronto actually wears red on Canada Day.  |
Heian-794
Posts: 27/896 |
Colin, that's good to hear; I've always liked the Expos. Why did they ever dump those cool light blue uniforms anyway? |
drjayphd
Posts: 340/1477 |
JJ64: Packing the ballot boxes with your team's players is nothing new. I think it was back in the 60's, but Cincinnati managed to get, like, six starters voted in by the team aggressively campaigning at games. It wasn't a machine, either. They just pimped their players.
I think the commish should have some power to do something about questionable voting (Nomar/Jeter), but then again, it IS how Ripken kept getting in despite not really being an All-Star caliber player... Anyway, the managers will pick their own... it's their prerogative, no? Not that it's right, but it's what happens. |
Colin
Posts: 1750/11302 |
...That sounds a LITTLE bit biased. 
Yeah, but there's actually a lot of online Expos fans. If they went to the games we'd be well represented. So they can still vote and everyone's happy. |
Heian-794
Posts: 20/896 |
Another thing is that if the managers voted, players on low-attendance teams (like the Expos) coult be evaluated fairly.
The international ballots aren't exactly neutral and unbiased either. I've got a Japanese ballot in front of me, and for the example, they say "fill in the circle as follows:
o HIDEKI MATSUI
I seem to recall an American ballot years ago using a generic name like "SMITH", but not so in Japan!
I also remember reading about one season in the '50s or '60s when fans voted and some Cincinnati people set up a machine that punched all the Reds players, consequently getting seven of the eight starters on their team elected. The commissioner then declared this invalid and later the vote was taken from the fans.
There was no talk of doing this in 2001 or 2003, despite basically the same actions occurring from Japanese fans voting for Ichiro and H. Matsui.
Just let the managers and coaches choose -- fellow players will stiff a guy that they don't like personally, fan voting has all kinds of inequities, and god forbid they should let sportswriters do it again! ;
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Colin
Posts: 1738/11302 |
Yeah, but that's BS.
I think it's fine to say that, for example, Shaq's your favorite player. That's fine. But in that case, they should select whoever finishes second (or even third as the case may be) as the starter.
Hell, by allowing China to vote, they just guaranteed Yao all-star spots for his whole career.
So then you change the system. Maybe a max of 3 votes per person - yeah, people could still abuse it, but maybe not on such a large scale. |
Emptyeye
Posts: 105/2273 |
It's not a matter of getting around the system, though, so much as there is no system to get around. Major League Baseball allows you to vote basically as many times as you want for the same player.
Although this isn't a problem with only baseball. Shaquille O'Neal of basketball fame has been elected to several all-star teams while injured, I think (Amongst others). |
Colin
Posts: 1736/11302 |
*shrug* Then place a cookie or something in the person's PC once they vote.
The majority of baseball fans won't understand how to get around the "Sorry, you already voted" message. |
Emptyeye
Posts: 100/2273 |
The problem isn't so much that they allow the fans to vote, as the fact that they allow any one person to cast an obscene number of votes for the same player (I think it's up to 25 or something like that). As least, as I understand it.
If anything, the Internet is to blame for this, as it's easier than ever to place a vote (Or 200) in favor of the "hometown guy", as it were. |
JJ64
Posts: 81/919 |
I'm pretty undecided, but why not let the fans vote? If the managers voted, they'd probably vote for their own players. Of course, fans may vote for their favorite players too, but there are more fans than managers. |
Colin
Posts: 1728/11302 |
If you allowed the managers to vote, there'd be a HUGE bias towards certain teams and players. Exactly the same as fan voting.
Besides, there's no harm in voting someone like Nomar in. If he can't play, they just draft someone in anyways. Personally, I think they should keep all vote totals a secret until the deadline in all sports, but... |
Toxic
Posts: 1419/2857 |
I don't mind, but the managers should have the final say in who comes and goes. |
Heian-794
Posts: 15/896 |
Call me elitist scum, but I think the fans shouldn't vote. Let the managers do it (as they did in the past... '60s?) instead.
They've got ballots available in Japan and people are just checking off H. Matsui, K. Matsui, and Ichiro, and then either elaving the rest blank or voting for all Yankees. It's ridiculous.
The only problem I could see with the managers voting is if one of them gets an order from his owner/GM to avoid having his own players selected so that the team doesn't have to pay out bonuses. But that's small potatoes compared to the travesties that we've been seeing these past few years. |
Ruby Weapon 7
Posts: 87/96 |
The reason why I ask this question is because Nomar Garciaparra leads the AL shortstops with 412,742 votes but he hasn't played a single game at all this season. Derek Jeter is in second with 396,268 votes and he has totally sucked this year so far. It puzzles me as to why these two are in the top two in the ballots for AL shortstop. I think that choices like this will make MLB think twice about letting fans choose the players to be in the All-Star Game.
I still think that fans should vote because it gives baseball fans a voice as to who they think should be in it but they need to pick players who are doing great instead of popular players like Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter who are doing terrible this year.
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