Vote for the All-Star MVP online during the game

PHOENIX -- First there was the vote for starters. Fans cast a record 32.5 million overall ballots for starters, eclipsing the previous record of 23.5 million. As for the specific 2011 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Sprint, fans smashed records, casting 27.4 million ballots online counting for 357.5 million votes.

Then there was the 2011 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint. Fans selected White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko and Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino. Those two candidates alone racked up 17.6 million combined votes, as people everywhere spent the better part of a week deciding on each league's final roster spot.

Now it is time for the grand finale in an ongoing All-Star balloting series. You love to decide things for yourself, and now you have your next opportunity, because Tuesday night, it's time for the 82nd All-Star Game at Chase Field, and you can start voting again.


 
This will be the ninth annual opportunity to help decide the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevy, exclusively on MLB.com via the 2011 All-Star Game MVP Vote Sponsored by Sprint. Last year's choice was Braves catcher Brian McCann, whose big double off Matt Thornton in Anaheim helped the National League finally win for the first time since 1996.

McCann's bat went straight to Cooperstown. The MVP hardware went to him, and you were partly responsible if you voted. Who will succeed him Tuesday? That is partly up to you.

You can begin casting votes for the award starting with the sixth inning, by which time some strong candidates will have emerged. The voting will continue until the MVP is announced immediately following the end of the game.

The online fan vote again will count for 20 percent, with the other 80 percent coming on site from the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the announcers from the All-Star Game's three broadcast rights holders: FOX Sports, ESPN Radio and MLB International.

Immediately following the conclusion of the All-Star Game, the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player will receive the Arch Ward Trophy, which was first presented in 1962 as a tribute to the man who founded the All-Star Game in 1933. That first presentation went to Leon Wagner of the Los Angeles Angels and to Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers, because two All-Star Games per year were played in those days.

It is the final and important step in a remarkable run of fan participation in this All-Star Game. Now, who will be your choice for the MVP? Follow the game closely, because you have another important role in online balloting.

It is the 49th anniversary of the All-Star Game MVP, dating back to that summer of '62. Other legends who have won this award have included Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Gary Carter, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr., Bo Jackson and Cal Ripken Jr. Of course, there was no fan participation in any of their selections.

These are the players who have won the award since the fan vote was factored in:

2003: Garret Anderson of the Angels
2004: Alfonso Soriano of the Rangers
2005: Miguel Tejada of the Orioles
2006: Michael Young of the Rangers.
2007: Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners.
2008: J.D. Drew of the Red Sox.
2009: Carl Crawford of the Rays.
2010: McCann of the Braves.

"It's something you dream about as a little kid," McCann said, "a moment I'll never forget."

"It feels great," Crawford said after making that leaping grab to rob Brad Hawpe and secure the 2009 MVP trophy. "They totally got me off guard today. I didn't think I was going to win it. This being my third time coming here, it definitely feels good to win the MVP Award. You know, I'm just so happy, I don't really know what to say. I just hope I can come back many times and try to win it again."

"I don't think it's hard to believe," Drew said after receiving his trophy. "I've always had confidence in my ability. It just took me a little while to put it together last year, get some experience in the American League."

"It's an [All-Star Game] that I'll never forget," Ichiro said after winning in 2007. "The past six years, I never had an All-Star Game [MVP] when I really thought I gave it my all. So, I'm really happy. It was a fun All-Star Game."

Whichever player you choose, just choose carefully. It's a grand tradition, and these days you are a part of it. History awaits your verdict. Given the way online voting has turned into an absolute happening this summer, it will be interesting to see what kind of participation there is during this Midsummer Classic.

The 82nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and Le Reseau des Sports, and around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Game coverage.

It's time for baseball to put the fun back in its All-Star game

Trying to turn an exhibition into serious competition, with home-field advantage in the World Series awarded to the winning league, hasn't worked. The solution: Re-energize by de-emphasizing.

AL All-Star teammates Russell Martin (left) and Curtis Granderson (center) of the Yankees cheer on teammate Robinson Cano during the home run derby on Monday night at Chase Field in Phoenix. (Mark J. Rebilas / US Presswire / July 11, 2011)

By Kevin Baxter


How about a Some-Stars game?

Better yet, call it what it is: an exhibition.

Baseball's "midsummer classic" used to be just that — the best of the major sports' All-Star contests. Now, however, it's in danger of being destroyed from within, by its own uncertainty about what exactly it's supposed to be.

So let's cut the seriousness and bring back the fun.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, embarrassed by the circumstances that led to the 2002 game's ending in a tie in his hometown of Milwaukee, has tried to imbue the game with false meaning by rewarding the winning league with home-field advantage in the World Series.

Some players pay lip service to that — "Any team would love to have home-field advantage in the World Series," Texas Rangers infielder Michael Young said Monday — but their union, in talks for a new collective bargaining agreement, is proposing to scrap the link between the two events.

Here's the clincher: If the game is so important, why is it so hard to get the biggest stars to play?

Sixteen players chosen won't participate in the game, yet only five of them are on the disabled list.

The New York Yankees' Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera played for their team over the weekend, yet they won't play for their league Tuesday.

Six non-participants are pitchers who started Sunday, making them ineligible for All-Star game participation. That means Felix Hernandez, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, isn't available to play. Ricky Romero, who has a losing record, is.

Poor Juan Castro. So many players have dropped out that if the Dodgers' journeyman infielder hadn't retired Sunday he might have wound up an All Star too. And that's only a small exaggeration — 84 players were named All-Stars this season, more than 10% of all major leaguers.

Are we really supposed to believe that one in 10 big leaguers is an All-Star?

The key challenge is getting the real stars back in the game.

Trying to sell the game as important didn't work, nor did offering enticements to players who made the team — most contracts that include All-Star bonuses allow players to collect whether they show up to play or not.

Our modest proposal is to re-energize the game by de-emphasizing it.

Back in the day, when Ted Williams, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron would play nine innings in an All-Star game, there was a difference between the two leagues, and pride in the rivalry meant something. Aside from the World Series, it was the only place where players from the two leagues faced one another.

Interleague play and free agency have changed all that, making the leagues virtually indistinguishable apart from the designated-hitter rule. The truth is, nobody really cares who wins Tuesday.

The NBA and NHL don't pretend to make their midseason showcases something they're not, and their biggest stars participate. Major League Baseball does, and its stars don't.

The NBA and NHL emphasize scoring, skill and style over the outcome on the scoreboard. Baseball should do the same.

Fans want to see Jose Bautista hit, Jose Reyes run and Roy Halladay throw without a bunch of rules and regulations.

Forget any worries about a tie and running out of players or pitching. Fans want to see their favorite stars or the representatives of their favorite teams get in the game. That's what's most important.

Takeout slides at second, sacrifice bunts or a hitter giving himself up to move a runner over may win games, but it doesn't sell All-Star tickets. Besides, no All-Star since Pete Rose would think of running over the catcher, even if the run meant home-field advantage come October.

It's time baseball conceded this game — much like Monday's sold-out home run derby —- is about fun. It's about putting on a show, not about the final score.

Even in All-Star game, Bruce Bochy all about winning

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery likes to tell a story about manager Bruce Bochy, and it has nothing to do with World Series parades, accolades or riding high.

"It was in 1999 with the Padres, after they slashed the payroll, and we were outgunned and undermanned on every level," Flannery said. "I remember saying one day, 'What possibly are we going to do about it?' And he walked in with seven Betamax tapes, all stacked up, stuck 'em right in my lap and said, 'We're going to work harder.'

"He doesn't care if he's outgunned or outmanned. He always believes he has a chance to win."

Bochy will round up his posse of N.L. All-Stars on Tuesday in Phoenix, and although the selection process provided a few king-size headaches, he is ecstatic to manage the game for the second time in his career.

The last time, in 1999 in Boston, he felt more pressure to run it like a Little League game. Everyone participates. This time, with home-field advantage in the World Series at stake and a few rules changes that will make it easier to substitute, Bochy can manage to win.

And that is just the way he likes it.

"They say teams take on the personality of their manager," Flannery said. "I'll look at our guys late in the game, and as much as we want to win, these guys really hate losing. That comes from him."

It's true for anyone who knew him well during his 12 seasons managing the San Diego Padres and his five years with

Padres coach Glenn Hoffman recalled many nights after a loss when Bochy would collapse flat on his back on the floor of the coaches' room, his 6-foot-3 frame blocking the way out.

"Do we step around him? How do we leave? Should we leave?" said Hoffman, smiling at the memory. "We didn't know."

That kind of passion can backfire when a manager fails to control it, either spilling out in their public comments or turning a team on tilt. Yet when Bochy leaves the privacy of his office, he is able to keep his frustration simmering under a calm exterior. That's the part that amazes Giants general manager Brian Sabean.

"I don't know how he does it with the press, especially with the kind of games we play," Sabean said. "He'll have a tantrum, but he has to wipe that face off and face you guys, and he's stoic about that, then he's back in the clubhouse doing what he's got to do to blow off the loss. I can't imagine how you do that over time."

That stoic face has kept the Giants from panicking despite the losses of Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez, plus injuries that robbed Pablo Sandoval, Cody Ross and Andres Torres of time or momentum. Despite one of the worst offenses in the majors, the Giants are in first place in the N.L. West. They have won 21 games -- more than 40 percent of their victories -- while scoring three runs or fewer.

Bochy's career record of wins and losses is beginning to pile up. With luminaries such as Lou Piniella, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre no longer active, Bochy's tenure of 17 consecutive seasons as a big league manager is second only to Tony LaRussa's 33.

With 1,326 wins, Bochy trails only LaRussa, Jim Leyland and Dusty Baker among active managers.

The All-Star game isn't merely a showcase for baseball's great players. It's a chance for Bochy, fresh off his World Series victory, to gain a little national recognition, too.

"Oh, he's always been one of the great managers," said Leyland, when the Giants visited Detroit this month. "Just a very good, solid man. He's a prince of a guy, that guy. I think the world of him, and I have for a long time.

"He's a champion, and he's been a champion before he won the World Series, as far as I'm concerned. You know who's in charge. You never hear him blowing his own horn. He's a great tribute to our game."

Leyland said Bochy should enjoy managing the All-Star game now that he doesn't have to double-switch to avoid having the pitcher's spot come up.

"It was a thrill for me to do it, but it was a chore," Leyland said. "I can't say I enjoyed it like I wish I could have. But now, this will be a piece of cake for him, and he'll enjoy the moment."

For all the indelible memories of managing at Fenway Park in '99, with the All-Stars gathering around Ted Williams on the field, Bochy hasn't forgotten that he lost the game. He was grateful the National League ended its 13-year streak without a victory last July, giving the Giants home-field advantage in the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

"We want to keep that advantage — hopefully for us, but for whoever gets there, you'd like to say you helped the N.L. out," Bochy said.

Will his priority be on showcasing his roster or winning the game? You don't need to peer over a stack of scouting tapes to know the answer.

"Winning the game," Bochy said. "Not that I'll grind any of the players out, and they'll want to enjoy the experience, but I'll let them know that we're here to win.

"I want to win this thing "... really bad."