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 Who should choose? When voters are done, managers face All-Star headaches
Posted: Thursday July 02, 1998 06:14 PM
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- Baseball's All-Star game means lots of glitter, loads of talent -- and a whole bunch of decisions for those who choose the players. "It's a thankless job, putting together this All-Star team, because you arguably leave people off," says this year's American League manager, Mike Hargrove of the Cleveland Indians. "You are going to make people mad. You are going to make fans mad and there is just no other way around it." Poor Mike Hargrove sounds like a boss having to hand out pink slips. The dilemma lies in the selection process. Fan voting determines the starting lineups; after all, baseball has always preached that the All-Star game belongs to the people. "Sure, it's a popularity contest," says Joe Torre, the New York Yankees manager, "but there's nothing to be embarrassed about because in order to be popular you have to be a pretty good player." The first All-Star Game in Chicago in 1933 saw managers and fans select the players. It stayed that way one more year, then from 1935 to 1946 the stars were chosen solely by the managers. The fans got the vote back in 1947 until they abused the privilege a decade later. In 1957, fans in Cincinnati stuffed the ballot box, electing eight Reds to the starting lineup and leaving Hank Aaron and Willie Mays on the bench. But the players fell under the same spell of sentimentality when they got the vote back in 1958, selecting Mickey Mantle and Aaron to start over guys who were hitting 40 points higher.
When interest in the All-Star Game waned during the '60s, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn returned the vote to the fans in 1970. Critics blasted the limited ballot choice of six names for each position, but fans saved the day with a write-in campaign that got Atlanta's Rico Carty, who was hitting over .400, a spot in the starting lineup ahead of Pete Rose and Roberto Clemente. Rosters that were originally 18 have gradually increased to 30, but most feel that's still not enough. "I think they should expand the rosters by probably five or six people but I don't envy Mike Hargrove and Jim Leyland for the jobs they have because you're never gonna get everybody on there that deserves to be on there," says Torre. Some insist the All-Star lineup should be based not on a hot first half of a season but on a career, especially this year. "I mean you look at someone like a Cal Ripken," says Braves pitcher Denny Neagle of the Baltimore Orioles' future Hall of Famer, whom the fans picked for the 16th straight year despite his pedestrian .261 batting average, seven homers and 35 runs batted in. "There might be some third basemen in the American League who are gonna put up better numbers than him now, but you know what? That's what the All-Star game is all about." Most feel the process of selecting an All-Star team is fine the way it is: Let the fans vote, let the manager fill in the blanks and let those who disagree argue the point. Because debating the issue means they're interested -- and baseball can always use the attention.
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Fans of all ages enjoy voting for their favorite players 
This year's game will have some familiar faces like Cal Ripken Jr. 
