All Star Game – What a façade

I hate the Major league all star game. I really do.

I know, the last two years they have been decent games, and especially relevant to Tigers fans. In 2006, we jokingly watched the game hoping for an American League victory because the Tigers were actually relevant for the first time in years. Little did we know that victory would assure us home field advantage, which later proved meaningless. As for last year, we had 4 all star starters.

But, seriously, what a bunch of crap this game is. Why? Because All Star Starters are picked by the fans. STUPID!

Lets take a look at the latest fan vote:

AL:

RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Youkilis, K.	Red Sox	1,482,011
2.	Morneau, J.	Twins	1,214,603
3.	Giambi, J.	Yankees	828,891
4.	Pena, C.	Rays	455,233
5.	Konerko, P.	White Sox	435,176
Second Base
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Pedroia, D.	Red Sox	1,286,962
2.	Kinsler, I.	Rangers	1,120,439
3.	Cano, R.	Yankees	830,116
4.	Polanco, P.	Tigers	551,180
5.	Roberts, B.	Orioles	360,545
Third base
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Rodriguez, A.	Yankees	1,940,827
2.	Lowell, M.	Red Sox	981,648
3.	Crede, J.	White Sox	597,621
4.	Cabrera, M.	Tigers	567,213
5.	Blalock, H.	Rangers	363,051
Shortstop
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Jeter, D.	Yankees	1,988,251
2.	Young, M.	Rangers	1,140,258
3.	Renteria, E.	Tigers	557,951
4.	Lugo, J.	Red Sox	466,498
5.	Cabrera, O.	White Sox	443,175
Catcher
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Mauer, J.	Twins	1,178,630
2.	Varitek, J.	Red Sox	1,133,855
3.	Rodriguez, I.	Tigers	819,694
4.	Posada, J.	Yankees	771,625
5.	Pierzynski, A.J.	White Sox	470,795
Designated hitter
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Ortiz, D.	Red Sox	1,982,786
2.	Matsui, H.	Yankees	1,207,892
3.	Thome, J.	White Sox	675,775
4.	Catalanotto, F.	Rangers	437,091
5.	Sheffield, G.	Tigers	303,058
Outfield
RANK	PLAYER NAME	AL TEAM	TOTAL VOTES
1.	Ramirez, M.	Red Sox	1,917,207
2.	Hamilton, J.	Rangers	1,791,623
3.	Suzuki, I.	Mariners	1,120,279
4.	Guerrero, V.	Angels	933,191
5.	Abreu, B.	Yankees	908,935
6.	Damon, J.	Yankees	829,114
7.	Bradley, M.	Rangers	801,708
8.	Drew, J.D.	Red Sox	774,112
9.	Ordonez, M.	Tigers	746,144
10.	Cabrera, M.	Yankees	708,463
11.	Hunter, T.	Angels	645,673
12.	Sizemore, G.	Indians	634,553
13.	Crisp, C.	Red Sox	547,717
14.	Crawford, C.	Rays	534,690
15.	Upton, B.J.	Rays	466,951

Oh my goodness. A Red Sox is starting in 4 almost 5 spots. And the Yankees left side of the infield is gonna make it?!? SHOCKING!!!

The real question is how the heck did Julio Lugo get 466,498 votes and Why isn’t Carlos Quentien even in the top 15??? Oh wait, it's because fans can't vote for him!!! Just like Curtis Granderson last year.... uhhh....

Fans are dumb. They vote for their home team. I bet many members of the “Red Sox Nation” have no idea who Josh Hamilton is. Or at least didn’t find out until they read their late May addition of Sports Illustrated.

Fan vote is not at all representative of who should start. So here is my suggestion:

Keep letting fans vote, BUT, instead offset fan stupidity and homerism by making statistics worth 50% of the determination factor of who should start. Come up with some probably simple formula that takes into account, OBP, RBI, HR, Errors, and hits. Would it really be that hard? Here I’ll even give you a suggestion. Do it exactly the same way that rotisserie fantasy baseball leagues do it. Come up with the 135 guys in each league who start on their respective teams. A guy is leading the league in Home runs? Give him 135 points. Second place: 134, and so on. It may lead to some obscure results which is why the fan vote is just as important.

Look, I heard your argument that the All Star Game is all about the fans. ITS NOT! Do you really think that players aren't honored to be playing in that game? Quienten is an MVP candidate and might only make it because of that crappy "One More Guy" fan vote. Also, the All Star game is a fairly important game to play. It determines home field advantage for the most important series of the entire year!!!

You'll probably also say that I am only writing this because only 1 Tiger is likely to make the team. It's not. My argument says let the ones with the best stats start. No Tiger would get it based on that, which is completely opposed to last year when Polonco, Ordonez, Granderson, and Verlander all deserved to be there on stats alone.

So please MLB, make the All Star game about who deserves to be there, not Yankees and Red Sox vs. the Cubs and Ken Griffey Jr