There is no way that many people voted for Hart over Wright. I have no idea what is going on hee.

Selig strikes again.

I call shenanigans.

There is no way that many people voted for Hart over Wright

There's no limit on how many votes per person with the Final Vote, so it's not necessarily about having more voters, just more motivated ones.

I think it's not shocking that Hart won: They had a packed house for Sabathia's arrival... and I'm sure every other inning they were told to vote for Hart.

True confession: I stuffed the ballot box for Longoria, but didn't care who got the NL pick, so I paired Longoria's votes with Hart just because he was the NL leading vote getter at the time. Didn't want to disappoint all those passionate Brewers fans.

Eva I can see, but is it mean to say Melissa Joan just seems old?

Full disclosure: I voted for Roberts and Burrell.

True confession: I stuffed the ballot box for Longoria, but didn't care who got the NL pick, so I paired Longoria's votes with Hart just because he was the NL leading vote getter at the time. Didn't want to disappoint all those passionate Brewers fans.

I did the same with Dye. Sorry, I just don't need to see another New York player out there.

No Yankees? Check. No Mets? Check. No Red Sox? Check. Okay, then I'm happy with the voting!

I voted 25 times for for both Longoria and Hart, so I can't complain...

I don't think there were any Red Sox involved in the voting. (Probably because there were enough of them on the team as it stood anyway.)

I guess since the voting measured intensity of fan enthusiasm entirely during the two days that followed the Sabathia trade, it's plausible that the Brewer fans won it. An interesting snapshot of history.

I suppose Jon Lester had a semi-plausible case for inclusion but he's not really a glaring omission.

No Mets? ... Okay, then I'm happy with the voting!

Yeah, hoo boy, that Billy Wagner will be sucking up all the oxygen in the clubhouse as it is. TWO Mets on the team would just be too much to contemplate.

They should have a final vote to vote 1 player off each team, too.

Milwaukee has been averaging 35k a night pre-CC. And new ownership gets marketing.

Remember, Geoff Jenkins won a spot the same way.

You give WI fans a reason to cheer and they will respond.

See GB and WI football.

How do I vote Dustin Pedroia and Derek Jeter OFF the All-Star team?

I stuffed it for Longoria and Burrell.

I stuffed for the winners. I didn't know voting was unlimited and spent over an hour voting away while watching a couple games, so intensely did I want to stop the detestable Giambi moustache campaign.

16- Great idea, I'm working on putting up a poll as I write this. You'll be credited.

Yay! Go home and get some rest, Wright.

I stuffed it for Longoria and Burrell.

I voted once for Longoria and Burrell. I am too lazy and shiftless to vote more thna once. I can live with Hart. I thought all the other NL options were better than Wright. Maybe I am just a bitter transplanted Pittsburgher living in Central Jersey.

They're dead to me.

Longoria? More evidence of East Coast Bias.

Milwaukee has been averaging 35k a night pre-CC. And new ownership gets marketing.

Remember, Geoff Jenkins won a spot the same way.

You give WI fans a reason to cheer and they will respond.

See GB and WI football.

Harvey's is right. Sports fans in Wisconsin are at the top of the top for overall intensity. While they tend to give most of their energy and emotion to the Packers, these are still the same people that are fans of Badger Football (known for drinking Vegas out of beer and buying 80,000 Rose Bowl seats, against UCLA!). These people are also Brewer fans. The Brewers, by the way are on pace for close to 3 million in attendance. That would mean 2 tickets purchased for every man, woman and child in the TV market of 1.5 million. The Phillies, for example, sell just 1-2 ticket(s) to every 3 people in that TV market.

The intensity of these fans in Wisconsin is matched by only a few. I'm not saying the Brewers necessarily have corralled all of this hardcore base and rank among the Red Sox or Yankees, but these are the same people as Packer fans, which do at least match, or perhaps surpass, the Yankees and Red Sox fandom, these people have been behind baseball before, the Braves were the first NL team to draw 2 million fans.

This is not a sudden flash in the pan. It is a return to the roots of Wisconsin sports. Before Lombardi, there was Matthews, Aaron and Spahn. Titletown, really didn't become Titletown! until the Braves left.

what's wrong with a 3B with a 140 OPS+? Wright will be back, so it's not a huge deal (and Chipper is having the better season and deserved the starters spot) but he certainly was legit for the last spot.

I'm glad Longoria won, but wtf is wrong with Pedroia? He's been ridiculous the past month, and deserves the 2b spot over anyone other than Ellis in the AL.

Longoria? More evidence of East Coast Bias.

This is the west coast of Florida!

But the Trop is on the east coast of the Pinellas County peninsula......I'm so confused.

Burrell gets fleeced again.

[Pedroia]'s been ridiculous the past month, and deserves the 2b spot over anyone other than Ellis in the AL.

I guess I could see how someone wearing their Boston cap a little too tight could convince themselves that Pedroia is more deserving than Brian Roberts (although he clearly isn't).

But a more deserving starter than Kinsler? He's 4th in the league in OPS+.

Several Fans on the St. Pete Times Blog claim to have voted Longoria 100+ times, some even 1000+.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/rays/2008/07/how-often-did-y.html

It also didn't hurt Longoria's chances that there were organized drives by fans of the Red Sox (to shut out Giambi) and Mets (couldn't really figure this one out).

100+ times, over the three days of voting, is actually pretty easy to pull off. The way this Final Vote thing is set up (with no limits) actually encourages that sort of behavior.

Watch the game, vote a bunch of times during each commercial break, repeat again each of the days... boom... you're well into triple digits.

I guess I could see how someone wearing their Boston cap a little too tight could convince themselves that Pedroia is more deserving than Brian Roberts (although he clearly isn't).

Well, I'm a Mets fan, so let me take a crack at this:

Roberts: 347 AB, 101 hits, 58 R, 7 HR, 32 RBI
Pedroia: 383 AB, 120 hits, 65 R, 9 HR, 44 RBI


Am I wearing my Mets hat too tight if I don't in any way see how Pedroia "clearly" isn't more deserving than Roberts?

I'm upset that Wright - as of now - isn't going to the All-Star game. I feel that way at 2 different levels, as a Mets fan and as a baseball fan. I would think that someone of Wright's credentials would be pretty much the type of player that should be a perennial "All-Star," kind of like a young Schmidt or a young Mattingly.

I would think that someone of Wright's credentials would be pretty much the type of player that should be a perennial "All-Star," kind of like a young Schmidt or a young Mattingly.

But a young Schmidt didn't make an ASG till he was 24, then missed the team in 2 of his next 4 seasons.

Harvey's is right. Sports fans in Wisconsin are at the top of the top for overall intensity.

No ####### kidding. Extend that to Badger hockey. I go to the Frozen Four every year, and I swear to god, if they held it in a giant soccer stadium in Jakarta, it'd be a sellout if Wisconsin is there.

Well, I'm a Mets fan, so let me take a crack at this:

Roberts: 347 AB, 101 hits, 58 R, 7 HR, 32 RBI
Pedroia: 383 AB, 120 hits, 65 R, 9 HR, 44 RBI


Am I wearing my Mets hat too tight if I don't in any way see how Pedroia "clearly" isn't more deserving than Roberts?

Roberts 45BB, 32 2B, 7 3B, 25 SB
Pedroia 22BB, 27 2B, 1 3B, 9 SB

I think that swings it a bit more in Roberts favor. But there's no reason that Pedroia shouldn't be on the team. Varitek on the other hand...

I think that swings it a bit more in Roberts favor. But there's no reason that Pedroia shouldn't be on the team. Varitek on the other hand...

Yeah, you could argue for Roberts, sure, but Pedroia isn't exactly undeserving himself. Varitek...well, no comment there.

I'm upset that Wright - as of now - isn't going to the All-Star game. I feel that way at 2 different levels, as a Mets fan and as a baseball fan.

I agree Wright should be at the ASG and he probably should get to a point where he makes it even in a down year, due to track record.

I agree Wright should be at the ASG and he probably should get to a point where he makes it even in a down year, due to track record.

I would agree, but there is the little problem of Chipper Jones. If Wright deserves the star treatment, then the same should be done for Larry. And if they both get it, then it's fairly likely that the most deserving 3b will sit home in a given year.

Edit: I realize my problem is more theoretical than practical, as Chipper is definitely on his way out. But I still have problems with the idea of a reserved AS spot for anyone but no-doubt inner-circle HOF'ers...being the best over a 5 year period simply isn't enough in my book.

It's a joke that Tejada and Aramis made the team over Reyes/Wright.

Although a joke is what the all-star game seems to be going for these days. Varitek!

It's a joke that Tejada and Aramis made the team over Reyes/Wright

Aramis: 4.0 WARP1, 132 OPS+, .288/.384/.516, 16 HR, 58 R, 63 RBI
Wright: 4.1 WARP1, 139 OPS+, .288/.386/.511, 17 HR, 57 R, 70 RBI

It's a travesty, I tells ya.

(Yes, yes, Wright's a better player, a bigger star, etc. But it's not a "joke" that another star -- arguably the MVP of the best team in the league -- with nearly identical numbers this year made the ASG ahead of him.)

Now, I'm with you on Reyes v. Tejada.

I'm upset that Wright - as of now - isn't going to the All-Star game. I feel that way at 2 different levels, as a Mets fan and as a baseball fan. I would think that someone of Wright's credentials would be pretty much the type of player that should be a perennial "All-Star," kind of like a young Schmidt or a young Mattingly.

Come on now. Wright has had a nice start to his career but he's a long way from getting that kind of treatment. Wright would have been a fine choice, don't get me wrong, and I too am surprised he's not on the team, but his track record isn't so amazing that he should get in every year. It just isn't.

I was in Racine when the Badgers were put in the Rose Bowl in '94 and you'd think that Jesus had returned or something.

Aramis: 4.0 WARP1, 132 OPS+, .288/.384/.516, 16 HR, 58 R, 63 RBI
Wright: 4.1 WARP1, 139 OPS+, .288/.386/.511, 17 HR, 57 R, 70 RBI

It's a travesty, I tells ya.

Wright leads in every single category and has a 9 steal advantage.

The joke was more in reference to the Reyes snub, but Wright is still more deserving.

Let's not forget these amazing splits:

Aramis Ramirez, All-Star

HOME: .347/.482/.620 - .381 BABIP
AWAY: .235/.282/.422 - .237 BABIP

Must be nice playing at Wrigley, the 3rd best offensive park this year.

Wright has had a nice start to his career but he's a long way from getting that kind of treatment. Wright would have been a fine choice, don't get me wrong, and I too am surprised he's not on the team, but his track record isn't so amazing that he should get in every year. It just isn't.

Harrumph. David Wright has gotten off to one of the best starts to a career of any third baseman in major league history. He's never had an OPS+ lower than 133 in a full season, even though he came up to the majors at the tender age of 21. Neither Wade Boggs, nor George Brett, nor Chipper Jones, nor even Mike Schmidt, had gotten off to a better start than Wright. Only Eddie Mathews -- whose start was one of the greatest ANY player has ever had, regardless of position -- got off to a markedly better start than David Wright among third basemen.

I don't know exactly what he's got to do to be regarded as amazing, but perhaps (as HGH Positive implies) playing in a home park that pads his stats would help. Then he could be more like Aramis Ramirez.

He's on the team.

Well, he's in, so quitcherbitchin.

I know he's on the team. But his reputation must still be defended from scurrilous cyber riff-raff.

Wright leads in every single category and has a 9 steal advantage.

Aramis hit No. 17 today, so they're tied in homers now.

Now someone has to take out Tejada's kneecaps, so that Reyes can be put on the team. Beltran too.