Fans vote Junior No. 1 again

Griffey tops AL All-Star voting again; Yanks shut out

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Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 06:55 PM

NEW YORK (CNN/SI) -- Ken Griffey Jr. wants no part of the home run hitting contest, but fans still overwhelmingly want the superstar of the Seattle Mariners to play in next week's All-Star Game in Colorado.

Griffey finished first in overall fan balloting for the fourth time in his career, collecting 4,202,830 votes in final American League returns released Tuesday. The veteran outfielder, who will make his ninth straight All-Star start, was the overall major league vote-getter in 1994, 1996 and 1997 and led the AL in 1991 and 1993.

While Griffey -- who leads the AL with 32 homers -- plans on playing in the All-Star Game, he said he will no longer participate in the annual Home Run Derby scheduled for Monday night, claiming the contest could adversely affect his swing. One of the star attractions in that contest will be St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire, who received a league-best 3,377,145 votes in final NL returns announced Monday.

Joining Griffey in the AL outfield will be RBI leader Juan Gonzalez of Texas (1,900,735) and Kenny Lofton of Cleveland (1,802,565). Lofton's teammate, David Justice, finished fourth among outfielders with 1,467,423 votes.

Despite owning the best record in baseball, the New York Yankees did not have a single player voted to the starting squad by the fans.

The closest race was at first base, where Cleveland's Jim Thome overtook Tino Martinez of the Yankees in the final returns with 1,193,823 votes, 199,879 more than Martinez.

Cal Ripken of Baltimore was named to his 16th straight All-Star Game and second in a row at third base. Ripken was second in overall AL voting with 3,402,657 votes although he is hitting just .265 with seven homers and 35 RBI.

Ripken's teammate, Roberto Alomar, received 1,834,970 votes and was named the starting second baseman.

The AL catcher will be Ivan Rodriguez of Texas, who earned his sixth straight All-Star appearance with 3,012,549 votes, while Alex Rodriguez of Seattle (2,099,561) will be the shortstop.

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