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Your Take: Choosing the All-Stars

Fans should choose, but accountability needed

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Posted: Thursday July 08, 1999 01:08 PM

Some users didn't like how the Internet voting allowed Derek Jeter to slip significantly in the All-Star voting. Jamie Squire/Allsport

CNN/SI asked users what, if anything, needed to be done to alleviate the controversy over this year's All-Star voting. More than 1,500 submissions later, we've heard it all. Most people who submitted want some degree of fan involvement, though some think that managers and players should control the selection of starters. Others said that the decision should be purely statistical. For some of the most interesting submissions, read on:

I think that a good point is being made about the fact that the WEB can be abused in this case. And certainly the fans are going to be biased. Now, it is also true that temas with bigger markets have an advantage. It is possible to adopt a system were the players, the fans and probably the managers have a saying.
-- Victor Vilchiz, Los Angeles, Calif.

Fans support the players with the high ticket and refreshment prices and should be given some say. However, it does seem to be a popularity vote and those that don't follow the game are doing an injustice to those players who are having an outstanding season and should be recognized with an "All Star" next to their name. Managers/players both should get the honor of selecting the starting roster and the fans should get the say-so for one player per position as a popular vote.
-- Scott McKinnon, Jacksonville, Fla.

Leave it the way it is. This is the fans only chance to put the players on the field they want to see. The managers get to fill in any player who should have been selected. Let Juan cry all he wants. It seems like it would mean more to a true baseball guy to be picked by another baseball person than the fans. By the way did they not send any All-Star Ballots to Texas?
-- Scott Hatfield, Mt. Washington, Ky.

Instant Poll Results CNNSI.com polled users about how they thought All-Star balloting should take place. The fans won out, but the Internet's role seems to be a major area of controversy. How should All-Star Voting be conducted? By fans at ballparks only By fans at ballparks and on Web By players By managers By a statistical model Total votes: 10,433 17% 19% 28% 11% 25%

Absolutely, the fans should elect who plays in the All Star game.
1. The fans pay the salaries and essentially 'finance' the league and it's livelihood.
2. The game in no way, shape, or form affects the outcome of the season in the sense of standings.
3. By allowing the sportswriters or other 'Sports Bureaucrats' to determine the rosters, it will simply become a game of 'self-proclaimed' expert's favorites vice fan favorites. LEAVE IT TO THE FANS!
-- Robert Dorsett, San Diego, Calif.

I'll vote for the All-Star lineup the old fashioned way, with the remote control. I want to see an All-Star game, not a ballot stuffing contest. The voting should take place over a shorter timespan with the statistics determining who gets on the ballot. The only position that should have been up for grabs is shortstop where Omar, Derek, Nomar, and A-Rod are all playing at a high level.
-- Tom Hackett, Hill AFB, Utah

Once again, Baseball seems to have messed up something as simple as voting in our favorite players in the All-Star. The fans are the ones who support the game, so in essence we should be the only ones selecting these players and not managers, owners or the players themselves. To simplify the process, keep balloting away from the Internet. Voting should only be held at the ballparks where you'll find the "real" fans anyway and not just some computer geek who downloaded a site.
-- A. Evonti Anderson, Tampa, Fla.

Players vote for the starters, managers pick the rest of the team. Time to get rid of the rule that every team gets a representative. Only true All-Stars should be there. Doing it this way will also stop first half wonders from starting or just being picked based on half a years production.
-- Chris Browne, New York, N.Y.

The fans should pick the teams. This keeps them involved and more interested. Let's keep in mind who pays these guys salaries.
-- Chris Dunfee, Diamond, Ohio

There absolutely no way the fans should be allowed to have a total say in who gets voted to start the All-Star game. When I go to games, I see people who have no idea who any of the players on other teams are just picking who the person sitting next to them is picking. I consider myself a fan of the game, not a fan of 1 particular player or team. Most fans, however, do not see it that way. They just figure since they are sitting in the Ballpark in Arlington that every Texas Rangers player should be an all-star. As much as I would like to see Rusty Greer or Royce Clayton make the team, they are not deserving based on performance on the field. There should be a system in place like the NFL has that would include fans, players, and coaches. If not, Cal Ripken Jr. will be the starting 3rd baseman well into the next century.
-- Chris Martin, Dallas, Texas

The starters should be picked using some statistical model (BA, RBI, errors, etc....). The fans should still get vote on their favorite players, but not as starters. The All Stars (Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey) should be about who performed the best, not who has the most votes.
-- Craig Pena, Phoenix, Ariz.

I think the All-Star game should be based on wut the fans wanna see. It is in fact really "their" game isn't it? Just because a lot of fans watch the Indians they must be doing something right! The good teams deserve to let the people who've had a great season, play in the All-Star game. I don't really think though it's fair to vote on the internet. It is what the people want, but still, anyone can vote and keep voting.
-- Daniel Nagel, Atlanta, Ga.

I do think it is unfair for All-Stars to be chosen solely by the fans, because there are so many ways to corrupt that system. I believe that All-Stars should be chosen by a points system including voting by fans, players and managers in combination with stats. If you added up points scored by popularity and by stats, maybe you would have a system that would be a little more fair.
-- Danny Potter, Canton, Texas

The fans should be able to vote because it is their game. I know that it is a cliche, but without the fans there is no game. Of course there will be times where one person gets picked over another, but isn't that the way it works in my world too?
-- Dave Schuster, Memphis, Tenn.

The All Star game should be like the People's Choice Awards, the fans vote. It is fun entertainment, NOTHING else. But, at the end of the year with things like MVP, Gold Gloves, etc. ,etc., it should be fellow players, coaches and the press.
-- David Anicetti, Guatemala City, Guatemala

The Fans. The players get all the money. At least let the fans decide the players of just one day. The decision shall be base not just on the numbers any player is putting up, the rapport between the players and the fans should be considered. Who to better decide who gets to be an all-star than the ones who put up all the money to pay the ridiculous salaries that the players get, the fans.
-- Jorge Garcia-Noya, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The athletes play for the fans, therefore I definitely think the fans should decide the starting line up. But there should be a more controlled way of regulating who votes. Voting through the Internet allows people to cast their vote more than once and thus altering the ballot. At least the managers, who have a better knowledge of the game can pick the rest of the players who deserved to play due to their stats rather than popularity.
-- Kabeer Mago, Fairport, N.Y.

I think it's just fine to have the fans decide the players they want to see in the All-Star game. Fans who have Internet access should vote that way, and the ones who are not should grab the ballots they have at games or grocery stores, vote, and send it in the old-fashioned way. The only catch is that fans should only have one vote. Either by Internet or by mail. Not both and not 22 times. I'll admit I must have voted at least 7 or 8 times myself but I was also allowed to. If I wasn't I wouldn't.
-- Kevin Glasgow, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

It has always been the fans who vote for the all star teams. I have been a baseball fan for a lot of years. Periodically, certain players lobby for voting by the players. It is the fan who pays to go to the ball game, it is the "fans" game. It is a shame that more fans in Texas don't attend the game and vote. Email voting certainly makes an even playing field, since fans who can't or don't attend games still have a vote. Sounds like Gonzalez thinks more of himself, then the fans do!
-- Loretta Kelly, Modesto, Calif.

I think the players should be chosen by their stats for the season. The players with the most homeruns, RBI, stolen bases, etc., should be chosen to play. Evidently they are the best players and should be playing. There is no need to vote at all.
-- Michael Morgan, Angleton, Texas

Many baseball fans are upset with the number of Indians in the starting lineup. Why shouldn't the best team in baseball which sells out all of its games be well represented? If you don't like it, go to the park and vote. When I was growing up in Cleveland in the 80s, it took four years to have four Indians All-Stars, including such memorable legends as Brook Jacoby and Ken Schrom. Those whose teams are down complain, and those who have players in the lineup gloat. Its nothing new and its just an exhibition. Voting to see which teams play in the World Series, now that would be a controversy.
-- Mike Walczak, Westmont, IL

Each MLB team should be issued an equal amount of ballots for the fans. No online ballots counted. Players managers and coaches should have a vote. That is all the votes that should be counted.
-- Paul Currie, Orange Park, Fla.

 

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