The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

If the All-Star game was held today, the AL position starters would consist of entirely of Kansas City Royals + Mike Trout:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHkDAROWsAIrXm1.jpg)

It would be one thing if the MLB All-Star Game was a meaningless exhibition like every other sane sport, but for some silly reason, Bud Selig declared that this game will determine who gets homefield advantage for the Major League Baseball championship.  So this vote will actually determine something of significance.

And the voting system is incredibly, mind-bogglingly dumb; it actively encourages you to stuff the ballot box.  After you select your players, enter your e-mail address and hit Submit, there is a giant button in the middle of the screen that says "Submit Again"; you only have to enter a 5-digit captcha to re-submit your vote.  I submitted the maximum of 35 votes in well under 5 minutes (all for Kansas City Royals (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2015/ballot.jsp?club=kc), of course).

Hopefully, enough people vote to expose this sham for what it is, and MLB changes the determination of homefield advantage to something that matters (I'd suggest combined interleague record).

Alex Rios played like a month if that and he is 4th in voting for outfielders? WOW!

I like the all star game having meaning.  Maybe change the way players are selected?

Yep, one of the two things needs to change...either the way the voting is conducted, or the significance of the game. My vote (35 times) would be for the former.

Want to make the change happen? Actively boycott watching the game. If it nets the worst TV ratings in the history of the all star game, MLB will have to start considering a change to the format. Money talks...

St. Louis is doing the same for NL

What I don't get is why the FBI is investigating the Cardinals hacking the Astros Data.  Don't they have better things to do?

The FBI can do more than one thing at a time.  Hacking into another company across state lines is a serious federal crime; it doesn't matter if it's a baseball team or a stock broker.

I voted for an All Royals all-star team today.  Woot!

Bill Belichick says nothing to see here with the Cardinals, keep it moving. LOL
(http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/0/8/6/107264086/bellichickstare_3vy8yzd7.jpg)

I thought the FBI was supposed to be concerned about national security

You might be thinking about the "National Security Agency," or NSA. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is more about investigating federal crimes.

Funny how those names are pretty accurate on the self-description.

...I mean, until you get to the CIA, of course.  ;D

^^^^

Again, shouldn't they be worrying about more important things rather than what goes on between two baseball teams?

We may be passionate about our teams, but the bottom line is, these are just games. 

As I just said, the FBI is investigating one company hacking another company.  Whether these companies are baseball clubs, ice cream distributors, or porn studios is irrelevant.

No they're not.  They're employers, they're companies, they're worth millions upon millions of dollars, and they have investors.  This is not a game, it's corporate espionage.

This is the fuckin shit I be talkin about
Half rappin' ass mothafuckers
You think it's a game? You think it's a fuckin GAME?
Come on, uh, uh, uh
Come on, uh, uh
What'cha really want
What'cha really want, what
D-M-X, uh, uh
Come on, Ryde or die

Back on topic. The last I heard, there were 8 Royals leading the vote to start. How would you like to be that 9th guy  :'(

^^ The pitcher, I presume?

The game is being held in Cincinnati, an NL park, which means there will be no DH's.  Maybe he's the 9th guy?

Looks like MLB is catching on...

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-06-18/mlb-cancels-65-million-all-star-ballots-royals-omar-infane-fraud-fake-votes

The AL is still voting on the DH. The lone guy is the center fielder.

I submitted my 35 votes today...and intentionally boycotted all KC players.

AL

1B   Miguel Cabrera
2B   Jose Altuve
SS   Jose Iglesias
3B   Josh Donaldson
C     Stephen Vogt
DH   Nelson Cruz
OF   Adam Jones
OF   Hanley Ramirez
OF   George Springer

NL

1B    Paul Goldschmidt
2B    Addison Russell (doesn't deserve it, but is a personal favorite)
SS    Troy Tulowitzki
3B    Todd Frazier
C      Derek Norris
OF    Bryce Harper
OF    Starling Marte
OF    Joc Pederson

No vote for Giancarlo Stanton, eh?  Interesting.

apparently leading the NL in RBI and HR isn't good enough for stroke

I wonder if this opens MLB up to lawsuits.

I'm sure there's a considerably pay bonus to be selected to the All-Star team.  If I were set to be selected and then 65 million votes were cancelled and I was no longer selected and lost out on a big payday, I might be upset with that.  Or at least my agent, who gets a portion of my salary, might.

Stanton was an unintended slip on my part...I definitely would have voted him in over Joc Pederson, who is having an ASG-worthy rookie season as well.

I also didn't vote for Mike Trout, who is arguably the best player in baseball. I figured he's already in, so may as well contribute votes to guys I like so they can get in as well.

Note: I got an email receipt for my ASG voting shortly after my earlier posts. It said that I had only voted 31 times, and still had 4 votes left. So, to remedy my previous slight, I went in and voted 4 times for Stanton.

There...my conscience is clear. ;)

Hopefully this inspires him to start performing like an all-star in the second half. 

^^^ Have you watched him play lately? The kid is a doubles hitting machine, and he's flashing incredible glovework at 2B, especially considering he's always been a SS before his call-up. Can he get better? Sure...he's a 21 year old rookie, so I expect he'll continue to improve, but I am definitely happy with how he's played so far this season.

In my local $$$ fantasy keeper league, I drafted Addison last year in round 21, which made him a 19th round pick this year and a 17th next year. I fully expect he'll deliver extreme value for the next 4-5 seasons. My other keeper, my 18th round pick this year, is Joey Gallo, who got the call-up from the Rangers when Beltre went down with an injury. Gallo hits the ball harder than anyone I've seen, and that includes Stanton. Not saying he's a better bopper than Stanton, because that would be ridiculous, but there is a statistical award called the "Golden Sledgehammer," which recognizes sluggers whose HRs travel the farthest average distance. The top 5 of those rankings this season (minimum 5 HRs) are:

1) Joey Gallo: 440.1 feet
2) Joc Pederson: 428.7 feet
3) Eric Hosmer: 424.3 feet
4) Kendrys Morales: 423.3 feet
5) Carlos Gonzalez: 420.6 feet
and
11) Giancarlo Stanton: 413.8 feet

When Joey mashes them, they pretty much always go upper deck on a laser beam. ;D

This is precisely why this process is bullshit. In my opinion MLB lost me and I don't think they have any idea how to get someone like me back on board.

They could easily fix this situation by just making it a 1 vote per day system. The problem with the current system is you can vote 35 times 1 right after the other. If they made you do that for 35 consecutive days, no one would do it.