I find it fascinating that you’re complaining about the fans voting in Derek Jeter, who while having a poor year isn’t that bad, is a surefire Hall of Famer, and whose first half is probably 90% fluke, but DIDN’T start a thread about how Jason Varitek, an over the hill catcher having a brutal season who will get into the Hall of Fame if he pays the admission fee, was elected to the team.
Oh, right, Varitek was elected by the PLAYERS. Going by who they voted for, the players are worse at this than the fans.
I absolutely would agree that Pedroia is on the team solely because he’s a Red Sock, but Jeter is not half as bad a choice as Varitek.
You would be referring to the same managers who vote for the Gold Glove awards, which are pathetic jokes? The same managers who gave Rafael Palmiero a Gold Glove in a season in which he was a DH? Who’ve given Derek Jeter, who is not one of the ten best defensive shortstops in his own league, three Gold Gloves? D’ya really think they’ll do a better job? Remember the year Joe Torre forgot to bring enough pitchers to finish the game?
The fans do every bit as good a job electing All-Stars as the managers and coaches do naming Gold Glove winners, do every bit as good a job as the players apparently do voting in their own stars, do every bit as good a job as the writers do of voting on MVP Awards.
Taking away the fan vote would be a PR catastrophe, having at least one player per team is a sensational idea in my opinion and rarely has much of an effect on roster composition, and having the game decide home field advantage in the World Series is no more relevant than deciding home field advantage by virtue of whether the year can or cannot be evenly divisible by two.
If the all-star game has any point at all, it’s to give fans a chance to see great players who they don’t normally get a chance to see. I see Jeter, Pedroia, etc several times a week during the regular season. If there’s some guy on the Brewers or Rangers or something having a better season, I want to see that guy instead, because I might not see him otherwise.
Nope. Met fan. My shortstop is better than Jeter.
But Jeter’s a star, and that’s different from a “good player.”
I’d rather see Ramirez than Reyes in this year’s game, because Reyes is playing below potential and acting like a spoiled little boy (looks like Rickey’s tutelage is paying off).
But I’d rather see Jeter than Mickey Yonic or whoever that other guy was.
During the years that the fans didn’t vote for the All-Stars, I recall that the managers always reserved a spot for the all-time greats, even if they weren’t having good seasons or were past their prime. I remember Mantle being chosen for the team into the mid-60s when he was only a part-time player. Of course, that was back when there were only 20 teams and there was room for a former great to at least make an appearance for the fans.
The fans should vote. It’s about the only thing left in MLB where the fans can still have some input. Do some players make it who don’t deserve it? Absolutely. But the managers can compensate for that in their choices for the reserves. They can always take the lesser starters out after a few innings and replace them with the ones who deserve to be there. Besides, sometimes the fans do get it right–Hanley Ramirez is a perfect example. He’s having a phenomenal season for a team that can’t seem to draw mosquitoes on a muggy night, and the fans recognized that and voted him in as a starter. Ditto Corey Hart of the Brewers winning the “final player” vote. For the most part, the fans seem to know what they’re doing (though I admit that the NL fans are right more often).
One thing I agree with is that, with 30 teams now in the leagues, maybe it’s time to eliminate the requirement that all teams be represented. It’s not really fair that a .280 hitter on a poor team makes it over a much better player for the sake of representing every team.
It’s called the All-Star game for a reason. If the fans choose to designate certain players that way, I for one don’t see a problem with it.
