The All-Star Game is lining up to be a big mess.
Thirty million votes were just thrown out and declared ineligible.
That allowed Miguel Cabrera to recently pass Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer at first base. But the Royals lead in seven of the remaining eight positions.
Mike Moustakas is leading Josh Donaldson. And this game is supposed to count.
Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon are in the outfield. Nelson Cruz and Yoenis Cespedes aren’t starting. And this game is supposed to count.
Kendrys Morales is the starting DH. Prince Fielder isn’t. And this game is supposed to count.
This game is supposed to count, and they let a computer vote, something so ripe for abuse and foul play, decide it.
They let you vote up to 35 times per IP address? Any second-rate programmer can get around that. Somewhere in Kansas City, a pimply-faced eighth-grader Royals fan is having the last laugh as his program has taken over All-Star voting and made a mockery of the entire thing.
At least the computer is smart enough to override with Mike Trout. Not even a computer is that stupid.
But Omar Infante will start over Jason Kipnis. And this game is supposed to count.
Athletics catcher Stephen Voight is leading the American League in RBIs. Salvador Perez is leading in votes. And this game is supposed to count.
In October, the National League representative to the World Series has a good chance to have home field advantage because of that Clearasil-challenged eighth-grader.
Alcides Escobar is starting over Jose Iglesias at short. And this game is supposed to count.
The problem with all these Royals starting is, many don’t deserve to even be at the All-Star game. And the All-Star roster is a finite number. So if Royals are there that shouldn’t be, someone won’t be there that should. And a game that means far far too much (home field advantage in the World Series) doesn’t mean a thing.
Nice system.