Baseball and Politics- Round 2

Wow, interesting post. Baseball and politics are the great loves in my life and while i would quibble with the "uneducated" description of the american people, I do understand your point.

As for a solution, lets remember that, as opposed to the NFL pro bowl, people actually watch the All-Star game. They watch because they , at some level, have some ownership of the players on the field. They believe that they, in their small way, are responsible for them being on the field. It is a way to reward your favorite player or team for the enjoyment and thrills they have provided to the fan over the year(s). And to reward themselves by being able to say their favorite player is an all-star or their favorite team is loaded with all-stars. (even if the players aren't having the best first half of the season) cause All-star voting is also based upon lifetime stats and performance, not just April, May and June. If you add past years then Jeter has a huge advantage over Cabrera.

I do agree with letting us pick the pitchers.

My response

I see your point, but when it comes down to it the things you described
are moral incentives. A true fan would benefit from the aforementioned
moral incentives just from the point of you that they are voting in
something they enjoy watching.

Let us not forget the mathematics of voting where the benefit must be
greater than the cost of voting (Pr=B>C). The cost of voting in this case
should be time spent researching, the benefit the game itself. So if most
"fans" do not "benefit" from watching the game they will not vote. You
assume that the only way they would benefit is if their favorite team's
players' were voted in.

However with the this "time it counts" motto, fans should have more
incentive to vote wisely. World Series Championship teams are not always
composed of All Stars, however the winning league of the game is awarded
home field advantage in the Fall Classic. So if ones favorite players are
not preforming well individually their team may be playing well as a
whole. If the team is playing well as a whole, then the fan should be
concerned with electing the most talented player at each position to their
team's leagues roster. This makes sense because the most talented players
give the team the best chance of winning, which gives the fan the best
chance of home field advantage for their team during World Series play.

Then there are baseball purists, like myself, who wish to see the best
game played between the best players in the league. Yes, my idea of the
best player in the league is not always the traditional choice, but it
seems to have paid off in recent years (David Eckstein in 2005 for
example).

There then comes the idea of sabbotaging the All Star game, which is
entirely possible. With 25 votes per email address, and unlimited voting
at baseball games, a fan could very easily make their league have a great
team, while casting an absurd amount of votes for players that were of a
lesser caliber in the other league. Yes, the cost of voting would go up in
that the time spent on voting would be ridiculous, but if it is to the
benefit of said fan then it (in theory) does not matter in the end result.