All Star voting: because this time, it counts!

Elections hold a special place in the American psyche.  On the one hand, the assurance of “one man, one vote” (this month’s Supreme Court maybe notwithstanding) assures us that even the lowliest of the low have as much influence on an election as one of the Koch Brothers (sort of).  On the other hand, Boss Tweed once said, “I don’t care who does the electin’ as long as I do the nominatin.”  And there was Chicago Mayor Daley’s benevolence in making sure that no Chicago resident, no matter how long dead, would be denied a voice in democracy.

The latest election outrage concerns the baseball All-Star Game voting, which is taking place exclusively on-line for the first time.  To everyone’s surprise, there may be some chicanery involved.  If the voting stopped right now, 7 of the 9 American League starters would be from the Kansas City Royals.  The Royals are a good team, but not that good.

There are precedents, of course.  In Ichiro Suzuki’s first season almost all of the Seattle Mariners lead in the voting at one time, and four were eventually elected into the All Star game thanks to an abundance of on-line votes from Japan, where every Mariner’s game was televised but no other games were.  In 1957, long before the age of cyber-voting, Cincinnati Reds fans stuffed the ballot box with paper ballots enough to elect seven Reds to the starting line-up.  This outcome was (arbitrarily) overruled by Commissioner Ford Frick, who substituted vote “losers” Willie Mays and Henry Aaron for two of the Cincinnati players.

After the debacle of 1957 fans lost their voting rights, but the eventually got them back in 1970.  Since then the format has been tinkered with. On the one hand the Commissioner wants the voice of the fan to be heard; on the other hand most of the fans are idiots.  They either vote for all of their team’s players, or they vote for who was good last year, or they vote for old familiar names no matter how far they have fallen. 

I don’t expect Commissioner Selig Manfred (sorry, old habit) to override these results.  I expect other teams’ fans will respond in kind, and eventually the number of Royals starting at the All-Star game will be reasonable.  But let this be a lesson to anyone who seriously advocates for on-line voting in real elections; the last thing I want is for Microsoft to announce the name of the next president.

While we are talking about All-Star games, let’s talk about them mattering.  After the debacle (it is funny how often that word gets used when discussing baseball) of the 2002 All Star game ending in a 7-7 tie after both teams ran out of pitchers, Commissioner Selig (ahh, that just sounds right) decreed that the solution was to make the game “matter.”  It matters because now the league that wins the All Star game gets home field advantage in the World Series.

I have no problem with this.  Yes, it is silly that the outcome of an exhibition game featuring players mostly from teams that have a limited shot at the post-season should determine home field advantage.  But the alternative most often proposed is to go back to the old system of alternating years, with the National League getting home field one year and the American League the next.

I try to imagine a father explaining to his young son why their favorite team lost in the World Series in seven games.  He’ll say it was because the other team had home field advantage.  When the son asks why, the father replies, “Because, Timmy, this is a year that is divisible by two. If it was an odd numbered year, our team would have won”  I then imagine the son becoming a life-long football fan.

Now that intra-league play is ubiquitous, one could make a case for which ever league wins the most games against the other league should get home field advantage.  But what if it’s a tie?  Do you next go for run differential?  Eventually you’ll end up like the NFL, determining playoff spots by the team with the best non-conference record against opponents with winning records in December.  As long as the All Star game doesn’t end in a tie, you’re fine.

Except the All Star game DID end in a tie once.  None of the changes that were made means they won’t run out of pitchers again.  Maybe home field advantage for the World Series should just go to the league with the Home Run Derby champ.  That makes as much sense as anything.