Flawed Voting Leads to Head Scratchers

What we have here is failure.  No, not to communicate (please excuse my Cool Hand Luke/ Guns n Roses reference). The failure is in the system of All Star voting and that failure lies with the fans. The problem as I see it is that anyone can vote. I suppose that is what the league was going for when they put voting in the control of the fans and not some sort of specially elected committee.  However, the flaw is that casual fans can vote.

There are two types of voter offenders floating around. The first type is the casual fan who fills out the ballot with only members of the team he or she roots for.  I disagree with this voter, but I do not blame this voter. They may not know as much about the game as the next fan but I respect the loyalty they show their team.  The second type of offender is the casual fan who believes that they are something more than a casual fan.  They choose the players by the names they've heard of the most and truly believe that they are selecting the best players. 

I understand that the All Star team is something of a popularity contest but something I saw on the June 1st update for the AL team was so troubling, I just couldn't ignore it. At this point in voting, Carlos Beltran holds more All Star votes than Brett Gardner. So far, Beltran leads Gardner by 13,080 votes.  Now, if you have been following the Yankees at all this season, you should be as confused and befuddled as I am. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that Beltran has picked it up of late and that he's definitely hitting the ball better than he was, but at .241, better still isn't good enough. Not to mention, he simply looks uninterested in playing right field.

Brett Gardner, on the other hand, is in a bit of a swoon. He’s clearly not welcoming the change from batting second to leading off.  Also, batting behind a red hot Jacoby Ellsbury was definitely benefiting him until Ellsbury got hurt. Still, batting .271 with an OBP of .350 and 4 homers along with 21 RBI out of the 1 and 2 spot in the lineup is definitely a lot more productive than Beltran has been for the Yanks. Not to mention, Gardner is one of the best defensive left fielders in all of baseball if he is not the best.

So after observing this massive injustice done to Gardner due to what I can only assume was the oversight of the casual fan who just does not understand how important Gardner is. The type of fan who knows that Carlos Beltran used to be a great player and just assumes he still is. I have no choice but to make an executive decision and call for a new voting system. I am taking my demands to the highest court possible; the internet.

What do you think? Am I overreacting or do you agree? Also, did you happen to notice any other ridiculous oversights in voting thus far? Leave it in the comments below!

Article by: Nick Abbate

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