It's time to take All-Star voting away from the fans

I've always been a power to the people kind of guy. I believe in democracy, and I love our representative republic that we call the United States (at least when activist judges aren't dictating from the bench).

That being said, I can't stand the way that baseball sets the starters for the All-Star Game.

Fans get to vote, as often as they'd like, for the players that they want to see starting the Midsummer Classic.

It sounds good in theory. The All-Star Game is for the fans right? Let them have a say in who is going to be on the field.

The only problem is you get players like Carlos Beltran and Scott Rolen on the team. Sure these guys are All-Star caliber, but thanks to injuries the two have combined to hit .265 with 14 home runs, with 66 RBIs and 59 runs scored. These are stats that had they belonged to one player, might have been worthy.

Instead the likes of Morgan Ensberg and Cliff Floyd are left off the team. Ensberg's only hitting .287 with 22 home runs, 60 RBIs and 49 runs scored. Floyd follows with an identical .287 average with 21 long balls, 53 RBIs and 49 runs scored.

Don't like Ensberg and Floyd? How about Troy Glaus (.260 avg., 18 HR, 51 RBI, 43 runs) and Pat Burrell (.289 avg., 17 HR, 63 RBI, 36 runs)?

Heck, even Ken Griffey Jr. is having an All-Star caliber year (.282 avg., 16 HR, 55 RBI, 47 runs). Unfortunately Griffey was voted to enough All-Star Games when he shouldn't have been that I don't feel sorry for him.

The biggest farce as an All-Star is David Eckstein. Here is a guy that has no range and hits .289 with two home runs, 23 RBIs and 46 runs. People say he deserves to go because he works so hard and he rarely makes mistakes. My question to those people is: Has the game of baseball regressed so much that merely working hard and not making mistakes makes you an All-Star?

I thought that's what professional baseball players were supposed to do.

I thought All-Stars were those rare players that consistently make spectacular plays and can hit the ball with reckless abandon.

I know Eckstein made one great catch that was probably in the top five of all plays made this season, but dribblers up the middle and in the hole constantly get into the outfield for hits when Eckstein is playing shortstop.

If numbers aren't your thing and you think great defense has a place in the All-Star game then why was Cesar Izturis not voted in as a starter? Even Izturis has hit .275 with one home run, 20 RBIs and 38 runs. Those numbers sound eerily similar to Eckstein's and Izturis doesn't have the luxury of hitting in a stacked lineup.

Besides, Izturis is three times the fielder Eckstein is.

In a recent conversation I had with Kelly Bradham he brought up another problem with fans voting -- they get to pick three outfielders regardless of position.

Does anyone want to see three right fielders with two playing out of position?

This year there are two center fielders starting for the National League. Anyone want to tell two-time Gold Glove center fielder Mike Cameron that it's all the same?

Do you want a solution to these aforementioned problems? Quit letting the fans vote for the players. Or at the very least, find a way to allow only one vote per fan. The way it is now, some guy who knows nothing about baseball could get online and vote a million times for someone as ridiculous as Terrence Long and there is nothing real fans could do to stop him.

You can't let the players vote, even though they face each other and know who looks good against their team. The same problems arise in the NFL when they let players decide who is a Pro Bowler. Guys get in on reputation alone, regardless of how they did in the current season. It's because players are too busy studying their own assignments to have the time to follow their colleagues on a regular basis.

So what does that leave? The sportswriters.

Who else is forced to follow all the players in the league like it's their job?

Who else takes the sport of baseball more seriously than it probably should be taken?

Let a panel of sportswriters vote (like they do for the Hall of Fame) and make all votes public so the voters have to answer for their actions.

Now I know some of you are saying "Isn't that convenient. I assume that means you want a vote."

Of course I want a vote. Why else would I be doing this job if I couldn't get to do some of the fun things that come with it?

Do you think I like the pressure of deadlines on a daily basis? You think I do this job for the chicks and the bling (I'm still waiting for the chicks and the bling by the way)?

Do you think I like being told on an almost daily basis how much better I could be doing this or how much I should be covering that?

Give me an All-Star vote. At least I wouldn't vote for David Eckstein.