AL Voting: Fans are Go!

Dave Paisley

A couple of weeks ago I scanned the All-Star ballot trying to anticipate who the fans would vote for, who they should vote for, and the likely discrepancies. Either I have enormous influence over fans through direct readership or by some amazing form of mind control, because so far, the fan balloting is looking eerily as I had hoped. I mentioned at that time that I also thought the annual debate about fans not being "qualified" to pick the All-Star starters is just plain silly. More on that later.

Let's take a look ta the balloting so far -- admittedly a small sample, but pretty representative, I'd expect. First, in the American League, we have the following at catcher. Note that my selections are in italics.

Catcher

I. Rodriguez	504,008
J. Posada	220,714
S. Alomar, Jr.	137,172
J. Varitek	73,098

As I, and many others, predicted, this is a no-contest. I personally think that Rodriguez is overrated, but this year he has really cranked out some hitting and is clearly a cut above everyone else in the running. Kudos to the fans for picking Posada second, although there is always something of a pro-Yankee bias in the voting anyway (lest you doubt that fact, just wait...)

Sandy Alomar Jr. is in there purely on name recognition. He's playing well, but in very limited action. It's nice to see Jason Varitek work his way into fourth spot. Not shown is fomer Yankee Joe Girardi in fifth, but that isn't the worst of the pro-Yankee bias.

First Base

J. Giambi	210,906
T. Martinez	185,784
J. Thome	134,518
F. Thomas	122,217
R. Palmeiro	85,936
J. Olerud	79,061
C. Delgado	71,738
...
R. Coomer	6,391

Over at first, Jason Giambi is finally getting some recognition, as I hoped and expected. Here's a case of a guy who's toiled in obscurity finally breaking out while the established guys aren't getting off to hot starts. Note Tino Martinez in second place, but that still isn't the worst example of pro-Yankee bias.

Thome, Palmeiro and Olerud are probably about right in terms of fan support, but I wish people would start recognizing Carlos Delgado a bit more. Meanwhile, Frank Thomas is proving his big comeback is no fluke, and he may well yet work his way up the list if the White Sox stay in contention.

In the great debate over who should select the All-Stars, I present Exhibit One in favor of the fans, lurking at the bottom of the list above. The fans sure know their stuff, plunking Mr. Coomer dead last in balloting with a paltry six thousand or so votes, third-lowest on the entire AL ballot. So it seems that the fans know something Joe Torre doesn't.

Second Base

R. Alomar	428,218
C. Knoblauch	166,277
D. DeShields	110,617
A. Kennedy	84,164
R. Durham	80,811

Another no-contest over at second, with name recognition and lack of a real challenger putting Roberto Alomar way over the top. He could win this even if he doesn't get another vote. Note Chuck Knoblauch in second place, but that still isn't the worst example of pro-Yankee bias. As expected, Adam Kennedy is getting rookie props for a decent start, and the perennially underrated Ray Durham is piling up some votes.

Third Base

C. Ripken, Jr.	304,285
S. Brosius	166,529
T. Glaus	164,088
T. Fryman	119,987
T. Batista	101,928

As I expected, there really isn't anyone with the talent, name recognition or hot start to dethrone Cal at third. While not quite the runaway that the catcher or second base races are, there's a significant gap.

Note the appearance of Scott Brosius in second place. Now we finally get to the worst example of pro-Yankee bias. A .662 OPS, a lifetime of sucking (except for one fluke year) and he still gets this many votes? Sheesh. We can only pray that there's been a healthy surpus of Yankee votes and that this will all balance out.

Remember, with 25 online votes of your own, you can help redress the balance yourself. I'd be tempted to spend about ten of them on Glaus, just to make sure that Torre doesn't get the idea that Brosius should actually go to the All-Star Game this year.

Shortstop

A. Rodriguez	338,441
D. Jeter	280,495
N. Garciaparra	237,500
O. Vizquel	129,465

What would normally be a three-way horse race has been eased a bit this year by the injuries to Garciaparra and Jeter. Despite the fact that their teams are battling for the AL East in full view of the country, it's A-Rod who's played every day and banged out All-Star numbers.

There's no disgrace in finishing second here (although I'll mention the pro-Yankee bias that gets Jeter ahead of Nomar) and it's a shame that one of the finest fielding shortstops ever (and I mean Vizquel, of course) will probably miss out on the All-Star game again, simply due to the logjam of talent ahead of him.

Outfield

J. Dye	342,209
B. Williams	337,611
M. Ramirez	264,728
C. Everett	240,659
P. O'Neill	212,719
D. Erstad	209,901
K. Lofton	190,537
D. Justice	152,218
J. Cruz	96,374
R. Ledee	81,566

Well, not even the Yankee voters were going to vote Ricky Ledee with his .759 OPS into the top three, but they did manage to get him in the top 10. My three picks are all in the top four, and I certainly have no objection to taking Bernie Williams instead of Carl Everett. But Paul O'Neill and his .799 OPS sitting fifth?

So in the American League, the fans appear to have taken my advice to heart and voted my picks en bloc, apart from that one aberration in the outfield. Even then, that's an acceptable substitution. However, I do smell a rat, and it's wearing pinstripes. With Joe Torre making the extra selections, it isn't like there will be a dearth of Yankee representation in the AL dugout anyway. So just say no to Yankees -- especially Scott Brosius, for crying out loud.

about the author

Purely in the interest of fan safety, Dave Paisley is pushing for a beer ban in the Yankee Stadium bleachers. Let him know how ironically this coincides with his upcoming visit to the Bronx at drdjp@strikethree.com.

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