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Is All-Star Game voting system flawed?

Believe it or not, CNN/Sports Illustrated anchors Marc Fein and Jeff Fischel are good friends. But they disagree on just about everything.

This week, they tackled the following topic:

With four Seattle starters at this year's All-Star Game, we decided to take a look at the voting system. Is it flawed?

Marc: As a wise man once said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm more than happy with the system the way it is. Baseball's All-Star Game is far and away the best of the major sports, and there is no reason to mess with success. The fans are a lot smarter than most of us in the media give them credit for, and the managers are given reserve picks to correct any overzealous fans in a one particular city. Or country, as the case may be.

Jeff: I want to see Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn at the All-Star Game, regardless of their stats this year. I want to see Paul LoDuca make it. After spending so many years waiting for his chance, he gets it, and thrives.

I don't want to see David Bell. If not for some highly questionable counting by Major League Baseball, Bell would be the AL's starting third baseman. I also think Lee Harvey didn't act alone. So what?

Mailbag

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Point being, there has to be checks and balances. In this case, that means the league fixing what delirious Seattle fans broke.

Am I saying I want to take voting away from the fans? No. I'm glad Seattle fans were so fired up about hosting the game that they wanted to see their Mariners in it. I'm glad Ichiro and Bret Boone will start. They are probably two of the top three MVP candidates in the AL. Edgar Martinez is easily the league's best DH. But I'm not happy that Seattle fans, sleepless after a third cappuccino, stayed up late at night stuffing the Internet ballot box. The last time anyone manipulated an election this much it was the U.S. Supreme Court.

Marc: Gee, I never took you for a cynic. Again the managers get to pick reserves, providing a system of checks and balances. And while I don't think they have to rename the game, I do think it should be understood that this is the fans' game, and it should be treated as such. If you bring anyone else into the system, there would be as much a problem as you have with the fans. Players would vote for teammates or friends on other teams. Managers would do the same. Allow the system to work the way it stands. The occasional David Bell is part of the game's charm and only adds to its mystique.

Jeff: I love this game for its tradition, but this requires a radical alternative. MLB should follow in the footsteps of the NHL: The U.S. versus the world. How about Pedro, Vlad, Ichiro, and Chan Ho all on the same team? Trying to prove that this isn't the national pastime, but the world's.

Sure, let the fans vote. But this way, voting for Mariners would mean something very different. And I don't think you'd see David Bell starting at third.

Once upon a time, the All-Star Game meant something to the players. But free agency has changed that. My solution would raise the level of emotion in the game.

Marc: Good gracious. As Fisher Stevens said in Short Circuit, "I am standing here beside myself!" U.S. vs. the world. You probably like the DH, too, you rebel. Of all the ideas I've heard for changing the All-Star Game, that is the worst. Regardless of the Internet and international voting, going to the ballpark and filling out your ballot, mostly with players from your hometown team, is as much a part of baseball as the 56-game hit streak and the Cubs fading in June. You might want to figure out some more ways to get the NHL decent ratings, but leave the pastime alone.

Jeff: I hate the DH. Hate interleague play. Hate domes and artificial turf. Just had to get that off my chest.

Point being, I don't want to change what goes on between the lines. I do want to change what goes on between the ears of the powers that be. Baseball has many off-the-field problems. Making the All-Star Game have the relevance it once did is one of them.

This would be another way to make the game that much more popular around the world.

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