Fans shine in All-Star balloting

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Baseball fans, take a bow on the dugout steps.

You have earned it.

For all the annual moaning and groaning about how fans shouldn't be entrusted with choosing starters for baseball's All-Star Game, you have selected very representative teams for both leagues.

Despite all the muttering about provincialism and fears of heavy Chicago-style ballot box stuffing (motto: vote early and often), the just-announced starting lineups say otherwise.

They say, for example, that the fans voted with their heads as much as their hearts, and were guided by the relevant statistics as much as their allegiances.

They say presidential voters in Florida could take a lesson. That United Nations observers can be of more use elsewhere.

In a year when fans worldwide were able to vote via the Internet and those in Japan got paper ballots for the first time, this much-expanded electorate still got it right.

Of the 17 positions where fans were allowed to pick the starters for next week's game at Safeco Field in Seattle, they got 13 right on the nose. That's a .765 batting average, not too shabby in any league. Even most of the misses weren't off by much.

There are bones that can be picked, of course — the often-sidelined Mark McGwire nearly winning a start for one. But not many. There is first base in the American League where Oakland's Jason Giambi, he of the .337 batting average, 19 home runs and 60 runs batted in, deserved the nod over Seattle's John Olerud (.318, 10, 56).

There is third base in the National League where it should have been St. Louis' Albert Pujols (.344, 21, 60) over Atlanta's Chipper Jones (.304, 21, 59). And Colorado's Larry Walker (.346, 25, 78) merited a start in the National League outfield over Sammy Sosa (.302, 26, 75) of Chicago.

But, really, only for the American League third base job, where Cal Ripken Jr. and his .227 batting average (4 home runs and 25 RBIs) won out over Anaheim's Troy Glaus (.254, 21, 52), could you really say sentiment carried the day over productivity.

And even then, what was the harm? Ripken will likely only play a few innings and AL manager Joe Torre will still add Glaus to the squad. And the NL's Bobby Valentine will likely add Tony Gwynn.

Remember, this is the All-Star Game, after all, not the seventh game of the World Series. This is for fun, not history. In this context, if the fans want one last glimpse of the sport's Ironman on a national stage, why not?

This is the one time each year when the fans' opinion actually counts for something. When, after too many months of being gouged by owners, ignored by officials and dissed by players, the fans' voice can be heard.

This time, as has been the case more often than not since fans were returned the franchise in 1970, they spoke eloquently.