Did You Vote? MLB is Already Looking for Your All Star Picks

It is April 19, 2007 and the Major League Baseball season is less 19 days old. The most games any team has played is 16 and only the Diamondbacks have that total. The highest win total in MLB right now is 10 and the league leader in at bats has 68. The most games a pitcher has started is four and the season is not even one-tenth completed. We are still learning who the teams to beat are and which players look strong.

So, what did I find when I opened the Cardinals' web page this morning? I was expecting an article about the game they choked away last night in San Francisco, but I found an article promoting the 2007 MLB All Star Game. Voting is now open to the public for your FAVORITE players. Not the best players in the game, or the players who deserve to be suited up among the best in baseball this summer in San Francisco. We get just the fan favorites, for whatever reason.

With 15 games under their belts, most players are still sorting things out. Especially with all the nasty weather that's plagued the start of this season.

Just ask the Cleveland Indians how hard it is to get hot when the weather is below freezing. They probably have five or six guys on their roster that will deserve to play in the Mid-Summer Classic but you wouldn't know right now. Grady Sizemore, Travis Haffner, Victor Martinez, and Johnny Peralta are potential All Stars, but when you play your home games in snow and sleet, it's hard to swing a hot bat.

What about newcomers? St. Louis's Chris Duncan is an All Star in the making after hitting 22 homers in only 90 games as a rookie. He is currently hitting .356 which places him tenth in MLB in hitting. Even in front of a struggling Albert Pujols. His power numbers and RBIs will only increase when Pujols returns to his normal, MVP performance. How about Kenji Johima who made a big splash in his rookie campaign last year? He is following that up with a superb start hitting a ridiculous .414. But, how do guys like these dethrone names like Andruw Jones, Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez, and Lance Berkman who have been All Stars forever but aren't putting up the same numbers as the younger guys?

And speaking of Pujols, what about superstars off to slow starts? "El Hombre" as he is known in St. Louis, because "The Man" was already taken finally has his average back to the Mendoza line after a three hits in last night's loss. He does have four home runs but only nine RBIs. Manny Ramirez is hitting below .200 and everybody knows that won't last. Berkman is also hitting below the .200 mark with only one homer and four RBIs. He hits in Minute Maid Park; he'll have 25 homers and 50 plus RBIs before the All Star break.

Not only has the voting started for this wonderful event, have you seen the voting format? With a valid email address, fans can vote 25 times each. This is not limited to one email address per person. I have a business email, a personal email, a junk email, and an AOL email I got for using their instant messenger program. That means with my quick third grade math, I can vote 100 times for eight different players. Last year I could have used my student email account as well. This seems to be a little gratuitous. Are 25 votes necessary? I see a blatant attempt to increase advertising revenue behind this number. Using this quick math and a little imagination, I quickly begin to question the validity of the All Star voting process.

Maybe it's old fashioned but I think, as a fan, players should have to earn the right to play in my All Star game.

Maybe these perennials will deserve to be in San Francisco when the time comes, but they don't right now. Shouldn't they have to defend their positions? Shouldn't newer players have the opportunity to earn a spot in the All Star game?

Oh, and don't forget, "Voting ends at 11:59 PM ET on Thursday, June 28, 2007." That gives you just 70 days to create a few new email accounts and cast your 25 votes. So vote now, and vote often.