Get voting, people! Or it's an all-Royal All-Star Game

[kstater]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Infante&#39;s numbers aren&#39;t great this year, but he&#39;s being honored for career achievements (over 1300 hits), much like Jeter was last year.</p>— Royals Review (@royalsreview) <a href="https://twitter.com/royalsreview/status/610534536607174656">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Lmao

[KevB]

The more media hand-wrenching I see the better this gets for me.

In short, the rest of baseball can kindly go fuck itself.

What's funny is that people seem to be interested in beating up the Royals and their fans for this "travesty". How about you give other teams' fans grief for not caring enough to vote the right players into the game? Is Houston not big enough to compete with KC? Seattle? Detroit? And that's on top of the fact that it's likely Miggy/Altuve/Cruz are getting majority of the general fan vote.

[BWillie]

That was clear sarcasm.

i'm not good at reading, i thought it was just intense royals homerism

[BWillie]

What's funny is that people seem to be interested in beating up the Royals and their fans for this "travesty". How about you give other teams' fans grief for not caring enough to vote the right players into the game? Is Houston not big enough to compete with KC? Seattle? Detroit? And that's on top of the fact that it's likely Miggy/Altuve/Cruz are getting majority of the general fan vote.

Yep, if ANYTHING, Kansas City should be hindered in the voting process. Apparently we are just the only one that has the internets. See NY and LA,w e do have internets in our barns!

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

What's funny is that people seem to be interested in beating up the Royals and their fans for this "travesty". How about you give other teams' fans grief for not caring enough to vote the right players into the game? Is Houston not big enough to compete with KC? Seattle? Detroit? And that's on top of the fact that it's likely Miggy/Altuve/Cruz are getting majority of the general fan vote.


I've been voting against KC for a little bit, but I even feel bad voting for Altuve. He's like the 4th best option. Royals fans are pathetic bandwagoners

[Halfcan]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/15/ec1a75f929c43dd8ec7a10004eb35431.jpg

ROFL

Keep voting fans!!

[BWillie]

I've been voting against KC for a little bit, but I even feel bad voting for Altuve. He's like the 4th best option. Royals fans are pathetic bandwagoners

Go fall down an aids mountain jerk off

[C3HIEF3S]

More Gordo quotes:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon &quot;I knew this city was a baseball town...Everybody&#39;s mad, but everybody needs to start voting &amp; maybe it wouldn&#39;t be that way&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash">#Royals</a></p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610558217123418114">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon &quot;We just look at it &amp; laugh &amp; know that the big picture&#39;s not the ASG, big picture is winning games &amp; trying to win the Central.&quot;</p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610558878451957760">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon says he&#39;s not a fan of allowing fans to vote if it&#39;s dictating the home field advantage, but &quot;there&#39;s nothing we can do about it.&quot;</p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610559467604865025">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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[loochy]

More Gordo quotes:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon &quot;I knew this city was a baseball town...Everybody&#39;s mad, but everybody needs to start voting &amp; maybe it wouldn&#39;t be that way&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash">#Royals</a></p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610558217123418114">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon &quot;We just look at it &amp; laugh &amp; know that the big picture&#39;s not the ASG, big picture is winning games &amp; trying to win the Central.&quot;</p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610558878451957760">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gordon says he&#39;s not a fan of allowing fans to vote if it&#39;s dictating the home field advantage, but &quot;there&#39;s nothing we can do about it.&quot;</p>&mdash; Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshVernier610/status/610559467604865025">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

man, fack teh gordonz

[BWillie]

I've been voting against KC for a little bit, but I even feel bad voting for Altuve. He's like the 4th best option. Royals fans are pathetic bandwagoners

Whats your email Rudy? Just curious. Thanks.

[KChiefs1]

http://mweb.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25215082/this-week-in-dumb-baseball-stuffing-the-ballot-box


Have a case of the Mondays? Cheer up, it's time for another edition of This Week in (Dumb) Baseball. As regular readers already know, this feature has the title, sure, but it's mostly for fun-- a fact that eludes the masses but remains the case. If someone freaks out, set them straight and tell them to enjoy life!

For all This Week in (Dumb) Baseball columns, click here.

1. Kansas City, you're embarrassing yourself

The AL All-Star balloting is a complete and utter joke. There's no other way to put it. The All-Star Game determines home field advantage in the World Series and the fan vote has become a ballot-stuffing contest, with the Royals fans making a mockery of everyone else.

Ultimately, this can and should be fixed by commissioner Rob Manfred. Yes, he needs to step in here, because there are some egregious things going on in a game that (incorrectly, sure, but that's not the topic at hand) means something.

Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are worthy All-Stars, but they shouldn't be starting over Russell Martin, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Donaldson, respectively. Kendrys Morales over Nelson Cruz at DH is wrong as well. I'll let Alcides Escobar slide because shortstop in the AL is laughable, but I just rattled off four positions where there's no unbiased justification for the Royals man to be starting.

And then there's the position with zero justification from anyone with a brain.

Omar Infante is hitting .204/.213/.283. Only six players in the majors qualify for the batting title and have a worse batting average. None have a worse on-base percentage. Only one has a worse slugging percentage.

I had the pleasure of being in Wrigley Field Friday and I posed the question to a few Cubs fans:

What if Miguel Montero started the All-Star Game over Buster Posey?

One response I got perfectly sums it up:

"I'd be embarrassed."

Yep. And Montero is having a productive season. Infante might lose his starting job and then start in the All-Star Game. While I'm sure he'd be honored, I'd wager there will be a part of him that feels pretty embarrassed.

Hosmer over Cabrera? Get outta here.

Hosmer over Cabrera? Get outta here. (USATSI)
And yet here we are.

The responses I'll get from Royals fans are going to totally miss the point. Such as ...

- You hate the Royals. Quite the contrary, I loved the Royals run last season. It was an outstanding story and I love the city of Kansas City (except the airport, which objectively sucks). The tailgating around Kauffman Stadium is a must on any bucket list. But this isn't really about the Royals.

- You're still angry about the Royals from earlier. Well, the Royals players seemed a bit angry in the opening few weeks of the season with multiple fights, but nothing has happened in weeks. I'm not one to hold grudges and I credit them for dialing it back. I'm generally more than fine with the team. In fact, they have several of my favorite players to watch (LoCain!). This isn't about the players, specifically, though.

- You're just angry it's a small market team. As laughable an argument as the vote itself. This isn't about the specific team, it's about too many players from the same team. What if there were eight Yankees in the starting lineup? Would you Royals fans be OK with that? Be honest (and remember the reaction Robinson Cano got for not picking Billy Butler for the Home Run Derby in KC). This isn't a market thing. Again: It's a too many players from the same team thing.

- Everyone else is jealous. Nope. Get that chip off your shoulder.

- This is the best team in baseball. Seriously, I heard that last week! The Cardinals are the obvious best team and even they don't deserve more than a handful of starters. And by the way, Royals fans, reality check: Your favorite team has played .500 ball since May 1 and has only won six of its last 17.

- Every other fan base has a chance to vote. This is correct and valid. My guess is most Royals fans are just doing what all other fan bases do but that there's a small segment of losers spending an inordinate amount of time and energy to skew this thing. Those people are making the rest of the Royals fans look bad and messing up the start of the All-Star Game. They should be stopped. The good Royals fans should be on my side here, because they are making you guys -- and there are a lot of you -- look really bad.

Let's all just take a step back and realize that this would be bad for baseball no matter what team it was. Once we're able to do that, we'll stop getting personal and start realizing this vote is a farce.

Or maybe we should just root for the Royals to have every starter, lose the All-Star Game and then lose on the road in Game 7 of the World Series? That would be a bit poetic, wouldn't it?

[KChiefs1]

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/columnists/bob-wojnowski/2015/06/14/wojo-star-voting-royal-joke-cabrera-snubbed/71235298/


Detroit — Miguel Cabrera is too busy hitting 450-foot home runs to worry much about it. But if he's not annoyed, Tigers fans should be, and baseball should be.

All-Star voting can be a farce, but it's usually a harmless one.

This time, it's threatening to create an absolute joke on the field, with seven Royals leading at their positions. Updated totals come out Monday, and maybe the transcendent stars will rise. Or maybe those wacky Kansas City folks playing with their computers will have nine Royals in the lineup.

Normally, voting oddities aren't a huge deal. But I'm sorry, if Cabrera, the greatest hitter of a generation or more, doesn't start for the American League July 14 in Cincinnati, there's no sense pretending it's even an All-Star Game anymore. The Royals' Eric Hosmer is a fine first baseman, but even he has to be a little embarrassed by this.

Cabrera clubbed another monstrous home run Sunday, a 450-footer into the second row of shrubs in left-center field, and had three hits in the Tigers' 8-1, rain-soaked beating of the Indians.

Two nights earlier, he launched a 452-shot into the camera well in straightaway center field, and his displays of raw power these days are staggering.

You ask Cabrera about the voting snub so far, and he shrugs. If he's offended, he doesn't show it.

"If they ask me, I go play," he said. "If they vote for me, or don't vote for me, I don't care. I mean, what am I gonna do?"

Cabrera doesn't often reveal deep emotions, and maybe that makes it easier for some fans to overlook him, which is unfortunate. His numbers — .341, 14 home runs, 45 RBIs — are on his standard pace of excellence, with consistency that's as impressive as his power.

While Cabrera deflects attention, as usual, his team is ratcheting it up. If there's such a thing as an All-Star travesty, this would be it. If it doesn't get corrected by the time voting ends July 2, I bet it gets corrected next season.

The Tigers recently stenciled messages onto the grass outside the batter's box that read "Vote Tigers, tigers.com/vote," and reminders are plastered all around Comerica Park. The message is delivered by teammates, too. They wore "Vote Miggy" T-shirts, and David Price went on a mini-Twitter rant last week, imploring MLB to adjust the process — "not that it's funny, but it's kind of a joke. #VOTEMIGGY." He later clarified he respects the Royals, and they have worthy All-Stars, too.

But come on, who wants to watch one Royal after another — Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Kendrys Morales, Salvador Perez — sheepishly trot out to their positions. Teammates say Cabrera never brings it up, but they're surprised and bothered by it.

"Hopefully this is the last year they allow fans to vote All-Stars, because they're determining home-field advantage for the World Series," Ian Kinsler said. "You can't blame Kansas City, they're taking advantage of the system. But at the same time, it's not right. It's good fans are involved somehow, but seven or eight Royals is kind of tough to take."

Baseball did this

The Tigers have two legitimate All-Star starters — Cabrera and shortstop Jose Iglesias. But Miggy and Iggy are being passed because of the Kansas City voting piggies. David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria also are candidates, but let's not weaken the main argument with our own gluttony.

For a guy still smack in his prime at 32, Cabrera doesn't always get the respect he deserves. Yes, he's a nine-time All-Star (including the past five) and a two-time MVP. But he has 600,000 fewer votes than Hosmer, and about 700,000 fewer than Mike Trout, although Trout doesn't escape the absurdity, either — he's fifth overall behind four Royals.

Bit by bit, byte by byte, baseball is edging toward another embarrassment. I'd blame the Royals fans, too, except they're just playing along with the ridiculousness, punching ballots multiple times. That's the new MLB rule, that all voting is done on-line, with a maximum of 35 votes per email address.

The Royals have pushed it beyond the limits of good sense, so they have Escobar leading Iglesias by an astonishing two million votes, and second baseman Omar Infante (hitting .204) narrowly behind the Astros' Jose Altuve. I don't know what new commissioner Rob Manfred can do about it now, short of confiscating computers in the Kansas City area, but there'd better be changes next season. Call it a royal flushing of the rules.

Game would be mockery

Baseball is stuck in this silly position — and I'm stuck griping about it — because it turned the All-Star Game into a farce more than a decade ago, when they ran out of players in a tie game.

Bud Selig decided to pump up the stakes by awarding World Series home-field advantage to the winning league. That was dumb, but if you do it, you can't diminish the importance by letting 14-year-old Billy and his buddies vote hundreds of times.

The Royals reached the World Series last year and lost Game 7 at home to the Giants, but this is not some powerhouse riding a revival. The Royals are 34-25, three games ahead of the 33-30 Tigers.

There are bigger issues in baseball, obviously. Cabrera never, ever touts himself, and it's usually not necessary. But someone has to say it — if Cabrera isn't a starter, the All-Star Game and its fake stakes are a mockery.

Bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com

[KChiefs1]

Some real hatred developing. If this continues for a couple of more weeks it will get scary.

[Deberg_1990]

Cabrera? Where's the outrage for Prince Fielder?

[cosmo20002]

It's all fun and games until Infante gets elected to start...

I think I am starting to feel bad about voting for Omar. It kind of seems like in those movies where the dork is nominated for homecoming king as a joke and people vote for him to embarrass him. Omar has got to hate this...his sucking now gets a national spotlight. And although some of our other guys may not "deserve" to start, they at least belong in the conversation. Omar winning kind of cheapens the whole thing.

[KChiefs1]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article24463954.html

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

This is kind of like flying banners over arrowhead . the fans will create change.

Now I need to go vote for infante. Later.

[KChiefs1]

Poz on the ASG:

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/royals-all-star-voting/


KANSAS CITY — There’s a fun little exchange at the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy” where Dey — a sort of policeman in the Nova Corps — is telling the guardians that even though they are heroes, he will still have to arrest them if they commit any future crimes. Rocket, the raccoon-type character, has an ethical question:

Rocket: What if I see something I want to take and it belongs to someone else?

Dey: You will be arrested.


Rocket: But what if I want it more than the person who has it?

Dey: It’s still illegal.

Rocket: That doesn’t follow. No. I want it more, sir. Do you understand?

This, as I see it, sums up the current Kansas City Royals All-Star Game controversy. As you might know, the All-Star Game voting is in full swing and at the moment there are EIGHT Kansas City Royals who are in line to start in the game, ranging from the reasonable (Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas) to the shaky (Eric Hosmer) to the absurd (Alicides Escobar, Kendrys Morales, Omar Infante). Infante just took the lead at second base even though Kansas City fans, in general, DO NOT EVEN WANT HIM STARTING FOR THE ROYALS.

For a long time now, I’ve had a pretty straightforward view of the All-Star Game: It’s the fans’ game and fans should be able to see whoever they want. Sure, I used to get all riled up by who got jobbed, who coasted in on an expired reputation, who can’t get noticed no matter how well they play … and, sure, I sometimes can still get riled up by all that. But in the end, I believe that the All-Star Game is supposed to feature the players that most fans want to see. In other words, I believe that the fans can make baffling or illogical or unfair choices but they cannot get it wrong. Because it’s their game.

And right now, simply put, Kansas City fans want their players in the All-Star Game more than anybody else. They want it more, sir.

These are heady times for Kansas City baseball fans. Between 1994 and last season, the Kansas City Royals never finished higher than 10th in the American League in attendance. They never drew even two million people in a season. Their television ratings were pitiful, laughable. I was the columnist at the Kansas City Star for most of the time, and I saw first-hand how far it had fallen. You almost never saw a Royals hat around town. You certainly didn’t see many Royals flags in front of houses. Royals postgame talk radio shows would be filled with Kansas City Chiefs talk. From a baseball standpoint, it was as dead as dead could be.

And yet, underneath it all, there was always this faint but steady baseball heartbeat. Baseball goes back a long way in Kansas City, to the Kansas City Cowboys of the old American Association and the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League. The greatest minor-league team in baseball history might be the 1939 Kansas City Blues featuring Phil Rizzuto and Tommy Holmes and Vince DiMaggio, who cracked 46 home runs. Satchel Paige’s Kansas City Monarchs were the New York Yankees of Negro Leagues baseball. Lou Gehrig played his last game in Kansas City; Mickey Mantle almost quit in Kansas City before he even got started.

And then there were Charley Finley’s Athletics with all their silly stunts, and then the 1970s Royals of George Brett and Frank White and Amos Otis and Hal McRae.

And so, even in the worst times, Royals fans suffered through, soldiering on even when the team was losing 100 games every year, even when the team would do something embarrassing just about every night. And then there were many dormant Royals fans, checking in periodically, looking to see if it was safe to come out to the ballpark again, looking to see if they could wear their Royals gear again without people laughing at them.

Here’s a story: I was once wearing my Kansas City Royals hat when, through a series of connections, I met Paul Reiser, the actor and comedian. He saw the hat and proceeded to put together an impromptu stand-up bit about the Royals, beginning with the premise, “Are they out there looking for the worst players they can find? Do they hire scouts who say, ‘No, you have too good an arm to play for us?’”

Yes, for the better part of 20 years, wearing a Royals hat was too much trouble. It meant EXPLAINING why you still cared about a team that had no hope.

So, it’s striking to come back to Kansas City now — more than striking, it’s emotional. The Royals will likely draw 2.7 or 2.8 million people this year, which will set the franchise record. The team is the hottest thing on Kansas City prime time television, drawing an insane 12.4 household average, far and away the highest in baseball.

More than that, though, when you drive around town you just feel the Royals presence. Drive around town … there are Royals flags EVERYWHERE. There are Royals hats and shirts EVERYWHERE. People are talking about the Royals EVERYWHERE. This is what happens, of course, when the local team starts playing well after a long drought; it happens that way all over the country.

The real difference is that the Royals were not just in a drought. They were left for dead. Entire seasons could go by where you would not even hear their name. I made a bit of a living writing down the ridiculous things that happened to this team — players climbing the wall for ground rule doubles, baserunners toppling and falling off first base, outfielders plunking throws into the backs of their cutoff men, managers jumping in the shower with their clothes on or having the first batter of the game bat out of order or saying wonderfully gloomy things like, “I never say it can’t get worse” — because almost nobody else was paying attention.

So now, it’s like Kansas City was given a brand new team. The magical World Series run last year, the great start this year, the amazing defense, the unbreakable bullpen, the glorious players like Lorenzo Cain and Salvy Perez and Wade Davis, the unlikely reemergence of 36-year-old Chris Young, the rapid improvement of Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, the steadying force of Alex Gordon … all of it has felt like a long-awaited miracle.

And so … you better believe Kansas City is going to vote in their players into the All-Star Game. You should know the history. There has not been a Royals starter voted as starter in the All-Star Game since Jermaine Dye 15 years ago. The All-Star Game has, for years now, been an annual reminder of the Royals’ hopelessness. One year, the Royals’ All-Star representative was a first baseman named Ken Harvey, who used to swing the bat with one hand overlapping the other. Harvey’s career as a Royals was marred (or enhanced, depending on your point of view) by numerous unfortunate moments including the aforementioned cut-off-man plunking (he was the cut-off man who got hit in the back), the time he threw a ball into the face of a pitcher and one rather inauspicious battle with the tarp (he lost). After his All-Star season, he played 12 more big league games.

But he was not the most wretched All-Star selection of the decade; that would have been left-hander Mark Redman, who had a commendable 10-year career in the big leagues. He had come over to Kansas City in a trade back when the Royals were sort of the last resting stop for struggling veterans, and he had a 5.27 ERA at the All-Star break. He was chosen anyway. And, to be fair, there really wasn’t anyone else to pick.

Oh, the Royals All-Stars. Every year, as the columnist for the Star, I would go to the All-Star Game to record the Royals performances. They are as follows:

1997: Pitcher Jose Rosado

— Came into a game the American League was leading, 1-0, promptly gave up a home run to Javy Lopez, somehow got the win when the American League came back.

1998: Infielder Dean Palmer

— Sent in as a pinch-hitter with the American League up, 10-6, and a runner on first base. I turned to the Star beat writer Dick Kaegel and said, “So, Dick, do you want to write about the double-play grounder or should I?” Palmer good-naturedly hit into a double play on the next pitch.

1999: Pitcher Jose Rosado

— Pitched one scoreless inning. Within a year, because of injury and ineffectiveness, he would be out of baseball.

2000: Outfielder Jermaine Dye and first baseman Mike Sweeney

— Dye, the last Royals player voted in by the fans, went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run; Sweeney entered as a pinch-hitter in the fourth, two batters after Dye walked. Sweeney reached on an error that pushed Dye to third. Dye later scored, and Sweeney made it to third base before the inning ended. He was subbed out before the next inning

2001: First baseman Mike Sweeney

— Came in as a defensive replacement, flew out to right in his only at-bat.

2002: First baseman Mike Sweeney

— Came in as a defensive replacement, flew out to right in his only at-bat.

2003: First baseman Mike Sweeney and pitcher Mike MacDougal

— The Royals had shocked everyone by being in first place at the break and so they had two representatives. Neither played.

2004: First baseman Ken Harvey

— Pinch-hit and struck out against Randy Johnson.

2005: Designated hitter Mike Sweeney

— Came in as a pinch-hitter, struck out.

2006: Pitcher Mark Redman

— Did not play.

2007: Pitcher Gil Meche

— Did not play.

2008: Pitcher Joakim Soria

—Would not have played but game went into extra innings; pitched 1 2/3 hairy but scoreless innings.

2009: Pitcher Zack Greinke

— Probably deserved the start in the Cy Young season but did not get it. He struck out two in one perfect inning.

2010: Pitcher Joakim Soria

— Did not play.

2011: Pitcher Aaron Crow

— Don’t ask. He did not play.

2012: Designated hitter Billy Butler

— Got two at-bats — a groundout and a strikeout. This game was in Kansas City.

2013: Outfielder Alex Gordon, catcher Salvador Perez, closer Greg Holland

— Gordon flew out in his only at-bat. Perez singled and came around to score. Holland pitched one-third of an inning and gave up a hit.

2014: Outfielder Alex Gordon, catcher Salvador Perez, closer Greg Holland.

— Gordon did not play. Perez got the start because of injury and grounded out in his only at-bat. Holland pitched a perfect inning.

So there you have it. The last two years have been good, but in the 15 years before, the All-Star Game was a dirty phrase in Kansas City. And now that the fans are showing up in droves, yes, it’s payback time. I hear people complaining that Royals fans are ballot stuffing, but this is silly: the All-Star Game voting has ALWAYS been about ballot stuffing. That’s the whole point of the exercise; that’s why teams are constantly encouraging their fans to “vote for your favorite local player.” Everybody’s ballot stuffing. Right now, Kansas City is just ballot stuffing better.

In time, of course, we might find out that the Royals’ dominance of the All-Star voting is not pure ballot stuffing but some quirk in the computer system or a brilliant hack. But other teams have hackers too. I suspect that Royals fans just want this more, and are more intent on voting for their players than any other group of fans at this particular moment of time.

If you are talking about who deserves to start in the All-Star Game — based on their excellence as players and the kind of year they are having so far — I think you can make a strong case for Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez. You could make arguments against them too, but I think those three are legitimate All-Star starters.

At first base, it’s pretty silly to argue for Eric Hosmer over Miguel Cabrera, but Hosmer is having a good year. At third, it’s pretty silly to argue for Mike Moustakas over Josh Donaldson, but again, Moustakas is playing very well. His improvement over the offseason is one of the cool stories in baseball right now.

And then there are the absurd ones. Kendrys Morales is having a nice year, but he has no business starting in a year when Nelson Cruz, last year’s home run champion, is hitting .323 and on pace to hit 50 homers. And shortstop Alcides Escobar, while a superb defender, is having a nightmarish season at the plate and is certainly not worthy of All-Star consideration. Infante is batting .204, which is decent for a pitcher and more than 130 points behind Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis.

But, hey, you know, sometimes there’s an overreaction. Recently, Sports Illustrated’s Cliff Corcoran wrote a fun little piece called Fixing the AL’s All-Royals All-Star Team. In it, he suggested other players who would be more worthy choices than the Royals. All around town, people were talking about the article, using words like “mean” and “uncalled for.” I tried to explain that Cliff’s point was that the rest of the country might want their best players in the All-Star Game too — and some of them are actually having better seasons than Kansas City players.

The fans consistently looked at me with the same look Rocket had in Guardians. No sir, they were saying. We want it more.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Long read but yes, payback time.

[kysirsoze]

It's all fun and games until Infante gets elected to start...

I think I am starting to feel bad about voting for Omar. It kind of seems like in those movies where the dork is nominated for homecoming king as a joke and people vote for him to embarrass him. Omar has got to hate this...his sucking now gets a national spotlight. And although some of our other guys may not "deserve" to start, they at least belong in the conversation. Omar winning kind of cheapens the whole thing.

This is kinda where I'm at. Of course the nerd nominated for homecoming king doesn't get a $500,000 bonus.

[jjjayb]

I posted this in the other thread and haven't had any responses. Is anyone else getting this? The player for the dodgers is always highlighted at every position while everyone else is grayed out. Here's an example:

http://s29.postimg.org/m5w7osnn7/all_star.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/m5w7osnn7/)

[cosmo20002]

I posted this in the other thread and haven't had any responses. Is anyone else getting this? The player for the dodgers is always highlighted at every position while everyone else is grayed out. Here's an example:


That's how it looks (but for the Royals) when I access the ballot through the Royals website.

[Raiderhater]

Poz on the ASG:

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/royals-all-star-voting/

So there you have it. The last two years have been good, but in the 15 years before, the All-Star Game was a dirty phrase in Kansas City. And now that the fans are showing up in droves, yes, it’s payback time. I hear people complaining that Royals fans are ballot stuffing, but this is silly: the All-Star Game voting has ALWAYS been about ballot stuffing. That’s the whole point of the exercise; that’s why teams are constantly encouraging their fans to “vote for your favorite local player.” Everybody’s ballot stuffing. Right now, Kansas City is just ballot stuffing better.

I don't know how long Poz can stay in the ranks of the national media telling such truths......

But I'm glad he came out and said it.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

I posted this in the other thread and haven't had any responses. Is anyone else getting this? The player for the dodgers is always highlighted at every position while everyone else is grayed out. Here's an example:

http://s29.postimg.org/m5w7osnn7/all_star.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/m5w7osnn7/)

Did you click on a link from the Dodgers website or something?

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Poz on the ASG:

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/royals-all-star-voting/

Good stuff, Joe.

[Demonpenz]

I guess I maybe on a weird side of kansas city, but even when they were shitty there was always hot talk about the Royals and people that I knew always talked Royals. When Sporting KC came along most the people with no skc gear wore Royals gear. People were still freaking out trying to get a free Gil Meche T-Shirt. Ever Since Grienke won the Cy Young people steadily were watching most games.

[KChiefs1]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/ballot-stuffing-royals-fans-could-make-the-worst-hitter-in-baseball-an-all-star-starter-214052264.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=fb

[BigMeatballDave]

It's all fun and games until Infante gets elected to start...

I think I am starting to feel bad about voting for Omar. It kind of seems like in those movies where the dork is nominated for homecoming king as a joke and people vote for him to embarrass him. Omar has got to hate this...his sucking now gets a national spotlight. And although some of our other guys may not "deserve" to start, they at least belong in the conversation. Omar winning kind of cheapens the whole thing.

:spock: You are seriously overthinking this.

[CoMoChief]

People in KC want Omar benched but yet theyre voting him into the ASG.

That's fucking stupid.

I'm not mad the Royals have a good chance to be well represented at the ASG, but I think the players and coaches should choose the participants.

[BigMeatballDave]

People in KC want Omar benched but yet theyre voting him into the ASG.

That's fucking stupid.

I'm not mad the Royals have a good chance to be well represented at the ASG, but I think the players and coaches should choose the participants.

:facepalm:

[DMAC]

People in KC want Omar benched but yet theyre voting him into the ASG.

That's fucking stupid.

I'm not mad the Royals have a good chance to be well represented at the ASG, but I think the players and coaches should choose the participants.

You can thank our fans for fixing this retarded method of All Star voting.

I bet our boys kick the shit out of the NL squad anywho.

[OnTheWarpath15]

:facepalm:

He's right.

Fans shouldn't have a role in a game that counts.

Personally, I don't think fans should have a role regardless - no matter the sport.

[BigMeatballDave]

He's right.

Fans shouldn't have a role in a game that counts.

Personally, I don't think fans should have a role regardless - no matter the sport.Sure.

An exhibition that is for the fans and they shouldn't have anything to do with who plays in it.

Brilliant.

[BigMeatballDave]

So, what it boils down to is folks have their panties in a twist over guys that won't even play half of the game.

As many have said, if Yankee, Red Sox, or Angels fans were doing this, no one would give a shit.

Fuck the media and fuck all these other crybaby fans.

Find something else more meaningful to complain about.

[Why Not?]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/ballot-stuffing-royals-fans-could-make-the-worst-hitter-in-baseball-an-all-star-starter-214052264.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=fb

Reading the comments section of these articles is hilarious. The best is when someone says something like this:


"These KC fans are idiots. The manager should just pull the Royals players after 1 pitch"

Lol. Yeah. We're the idiots.

[cosmo20002]

:spock: You are seriously overthinking this.

SORRY I AM WORRIED ABOUT OMAR'S FEELINGS

[Halfcan]

Omar just got 35 more votes!!

So did the rest of the Royals!

[Bearcat]

People in KC want Omar benched but yet theyre voting him into the ASG.

That's fucking stupid.


Yeah, it's almost like those two things don't have anything to do with each other... like it's a joke or people are mocking the ASG voting, or maybe, uh... still trying to wrap my head around this.

[ChiefsCountry]

I posted this in the other thread and haven't had any responses. Is anyone else getting this? The player for the dodgers is always highlighted at every position while everyone else is grayed out. Here's an example:

http://s29.postimg.org/m5w7osnn7/all_star.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/m5w7osnn7/)

When you click through on the Royals website you get the single Royal player like the Dodgers in that picture, which is the major flaw in the whole thing IMO.

[BWillie]

People in KC want Omar benched but yet theyre voting him into the ASG.

That's ****ing stupid.

I'm not mad the Royals have a good chance to be well represented at the ASG, but I think the players and coaches should choose the participants.

You are totally missing the point here bub. I don't care if it's a guy batting .015, the point is to take down the ASG Voting system, tell MLB to shove it, and get all royals in the ASG, which would be historic.

[Hootie]

It's kind of funny but I've built up such a hate towards Omar I hope he has a "5 day injury" the day before the ASG.

I'm ok with the other 7, though!

[OnTheWarpath15]

Sure.

An exhibition that is for the fans and they shouldn't have anything to do with who plays in it.

Brilliant.

It's not an exhibition. It determines HFA in the WS.

If they want to go back to the game meaning nothing, then I have no problem with the fans voting.

[OnTheWarpath15]

With that said, I have no problem with Royals fans stuffing the ballots. They're unearthing a massive flaw in the system.

Personally, I hope this opens the eyes of someone at MLB and the game is returned to just being an exhibition, or fans are removed from the process.

[ChiefsCountry]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aoki over Stanton RT <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX">@MLBONFOX</a>: The NL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ASG?src=hash">#ASG</a> Ballot update is in!

(via <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB_PR">@MLB_PR</a>) <a href="http://t.co/kEhpRW3bAN">pic.twitter.com/kEhpRW3bAN</a></p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/610877836333830144">June 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not just the Royals stuffing the ballot box. Cards have Adams 3rd in NL, Heyward top 7 and Jay top 11. Big time glitch across the board.

[Three7s]

It's kind of funny but I've built up such a hate towards Omar I hope he has a "5 day injury" the day before the ASG.

I'm ok with the other 7, though!
Yep, for some reason, 2nd base is like a black hole for this franchise. We thought we were filling it, but in reality, it was just sand.

[BWillie]

Okay, all you douchebags not voting All-Royals, at least for OF and 2B, just don't fill anything out for 2B, and leave the 3rd OF blank.

Thanks

[BWillie]

It's not an exhibition. It determines HFA in the WS.

If they want to go back to the game meaning nothing, then I have no problem with the fans voting.

The chances that players playing 2 innings in the ASG will affect the game is low. The chance that the Royals making the WS again is low. The chance that the extra game at home in the WS affects the Royals is really really low.

[ChiTown]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aoki over Stanton RT <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX">@MLBONFOX</a>: The NL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ASG?src=hash">#ASG</a> Ballot update is in!

(via <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB_PR">@MLB_PR</a>) <a href="http://t.co/kEhpRW3bAN">pic.twitter.com/kEhpRW3bAN</a></p>&mdash; Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/610877836333830144">June 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not just the Royals stuffing the ballot box. Cards have Adams 3rd in NL, Heyward top 7 and Jay top 11. Big time glitch across the board.


OMGZ111111111111111111111111111111111111111

INJUSTICESZZ22222222222222222222

FAKE OUTRAGEOUSEZ111111111111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DMAC]

With that said, I have no problem with Royals fans stuffing the ballots. They're unearthing a massive flaw in the system.

Personally, I hope this opens the eyes of someone at MLB and the game is returned to just being an exhibition, or fans are removed from the process.

Don't remove them, just make that vote a percentage of the vote along with players and coaches.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Don't remove them, just make that vote a percentage of the vote along with players and coaches.

I'd be fine with that if it's a three way split - Revolutionary France-style.

Then the coaches and players (1st/2nd estates) can always outvote the fans/peasants.

I just find it funny that people are using "it's for the fans" then bitch and moan about Jeter getting voted in when he didn't "deserve" it.

[Molitoth]

I just find it funny that people are using "it's for the fans" then bitch and moan about Jeter getting voted in when he didn't "deserve" it.

:thumb::clap:

[tk13]

Today's the last day to vote. Stuff those ballot boxes.

[BWillie]

When do thye announce the ASG Starters? When are the coaches picks for pitchers?

[Mama Hip Rockets]

When do thye announce the ASG Starters? When are the coaches picks for pitchers?

All Star Selection Show is this Sunday at 6:30 PM on ESPN. Reserves, pitchers, and final vote candidates will be announced on Monday at 6:00 PM.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/133576856/all-star-starters-to-be-unveiled-on-esurance-all-star-starters-selection-show

[Coogs]

Just wait. When the "final tally" comes in, we will be lucky to have more than one or two starters.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Just wait. When the "final tally" comes in, we will be lucky to have more than one or two starters.

Very unlikely. Perez, Escobar, and Cain are pretty much locks at this point. Gordon has a pretty sizable lead for the third outfield spot. Infante is still winning for some reason, and Morales is very close to Cruz. I would say they'll have at the very least 3 starters, but probably 4-5.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

I don't know if anybody posted this yet, but I just stumbled across this video poking fun at Royals fans and their all star voting. It is from late June, but it's pretty funny.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yE6Foq1dr5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Hootie]

I don't know if anybody posted this yet, but I just stumbled across this video poking fun at Royals fans and their all star voting. It is from late June, but it's pretty funny.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yE6Foq1dr5c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That's really funny lol

[ChiefsCountry]

http://fox4kc.com/2015/07/08/royals-and-cardinals-fans-encouraged-to-votemo-for-moustakas-and-martinez/

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals announced today they will combine efforts over the next two days to urge fans to vote for Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (#VoteMoose) and Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (#VoteTsunami) for the All-Star Game in Cincinnati. Both players are a part of the final five players from each league to be placed on the 2015 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote ballot.

“While the Royals-Cardinals rivalry is among the best in the game, we are proud to join forces to urge fans to send a clear message that we are teams united in our commitment to ensure that the best players take the field for the All-Star Game,” said Dan Glass, President of the Kansas City Royals, and William DeWitt III, President of the St. Louis Cardinals, in a joint statement announcing the campaign alliance.

Fans can demonstrate their support for the alliance and join the conversation with #VOTEMO. The regional sports networks FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest are supporting the alliance.

“With outstanding seasons so far by both the Cardinals and Royals, Missouri is home to the top team in each league,” said Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. “It’s time for fans of both teams to cast that Final Vote for both Mike Moustakas and Carlos Martinez so there is as much Royals blue and Cardinals red on the field next week in Cincinnati as possible.”

As part of the Final Vote, sponsored by Esurance, fans can vote to select the final player for each league’s 34-man roster. Starting this past Monday and concluding at 3 p.m. CT on Friday, July 10, fans are able to cast their votes from a list of five players from each league online (www.royals.com) or on their mobile devices. Fans can text A5 for Moustakas or N4 for Martinez to 89269 until the voting period ends. During the last 6 hours of voting Friday from 9 a.m to 3 p.m., tweets using #VoteMoose and #VoteTsunami will also count as votes for each candidate.