Tell me again why this game decides home field advantage in the WS!
MLB gets what it deserves....
Royals on pace to have eight All-Star starters, thanks to fan voting
The AL All-Star starting lineup very well may be the Kansas City Royals plus Mike Trout.
Major League Baseball is truly facing a Royal problem as the Midsummer Classic approaches.
If the 2015 MLB All-Star Game voting ballots closed today and the roster secured, the National League would basically face the Kansas City Royals starting lineup, plus Mike Trout.
Every Royals starter but Alex Rios is in the lead in their respective position categories-Rios is currently ranked fourth among outfielders despite a sub-.200 batting average. If the current leading vote-getters remain atop the hill, eight starters from one team will be a record for the All-Star Game.
There's no doubt that Royals players such as Mike Moustakas, who is fifth in the AL in batting average (.318), Kendrys Morales, who is fifth in the AL in RBIs (41), Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez deserve some recognition, but some of the other leading vote-getters are laughable.
Royals second baseman Omar Infante is the leader at his position despite having the lowest OPS (.496) in the majors among qualified players and sporting a lowly .204 batting average. Alcides Escobar, who is currently hitting .255 with a .285 on-base percentage, leads all shortstop, ahead of Detroit's Jose Iglesias (.355 batting average) and Toronto's Jose Reyes (.300 batting average).
Royals manager Ned Yost told USA Today Sports, "there's nothing wrong," and that if fans don't like it they need to get out and vote, just as loyal Royals fans have already done-and may likely continue to do-this season.
"Vote!" Yost told USA Today Sports. "The votes are the votes. If you don't like it, go out there and vote. Our fans have gotten out and voted.
"Does seven starters surprise you? Yeah. But once you sit back and think about it, it's really not that surprising.''
Yost's challenge is a bit of a long shot for baseball fans who may want to right the ship. As it stands, Infante is 200,000 votes shy of having more votes than Jason Kipnis, Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia combined and has jumped 300,000 votes ahead of Houston's Jose Altuve.
Most of the Royals either don't seem to mind or simply don't care that the ballot looks like it does with three weeks left until voting closes, but to their credit, they are in the middle of a race for the AL central division and have other things to worry about.
"I don't know what people want us to do,'' Hosmer told USA Today Sports. "Are we supposed to tell people to stop voting for us?"
Royals outfielder Alex Gordan didn't disagree with the state of the ballot but acknowledged that there is a problem with voting system and that it may take eight Royals being named to the AL starting lineup to spur the league to make a change.
"To be honest with you, I've never agreed with the All-Star voting," Gordon told USA Today Sports. "I always thought that guys most deserving, and having the best years, should go, especially now that the All-Star Game decides who wins home-field advantage. But it's a popularity thing now, and after getting to the World Series, we got popular.
"But we get seven guys starting at the All-Star Game, they'll change the rule. They'll have to. It will be like a home game. Nobody wants to see one team playing against the other All-Star team. It kind of ruins the point of an All-Star Game."
The last time a ballot issue came up was in 1957 when seven Cincinnati Reds players were named to the NL all-star team after the Cincinnati Inquirer distributed pre-marked ballots in the Sunday editions of the paper. It's only fitting that another ballot stuffing issue arises when this year's All-Star Game is in Cincinnati.
The current record for players from the same team starting at All-Star Game was in 1939 when six players from the New York Yankees started the game, but five of those players were also voted into the Hall of Fame.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/royals-pace-all-star-starters-article-1.2259101
MLB gets what it deserves....
Royals on pace to have eight All-Star starters, thanks to fan voting
The AL All-Star starting lineup very well may be the Kansas City Royals plus Mike Trout.
Major League Baseball is truly facing a Royal problem as the Midsummer Classic approaches.
If the 2015 MLB All-Star Game voting ballots closed today and the roster secured, the National League would basically face the Kansas City Royals starting lineup, plus Mike Trout.
Every Royals starter but Alex Rios is in the lead in their respective position categories-Rios is currently ranked fourth among outfielders despite a sub-.200 batting average. If the current leading vote-getters remain atop the hill, eight starters from one team will be a record for the All-Star Game.
There's no doubt that Royals players such as Mike Moustakas, who is fifth in the AL in batting average (.318), Kendrys Morales, who is fifth in the AL in RBIs (41), Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez deserve some recognition, but some of the other leading vote-getters are laughable.
Royals second baseman Omar Infante is the leader at his position despite having the lowest OPS (.496) in the majors among qualified players and sporting a lowly .204 batting average. Alcides Escobar, who is currently hitting .255 with a .285 on-base percentage, leads all shortstop, ahead of Detroit's Jose Iglesias (.355 batting average) and Toronto's Jose Reyes (.300 batting average).
Royals manager Ned Yost told USA Today Sports, "there's nothing wrong," and that if fans don't like it they need to get out and vote, just as loyal Royals fans have already done-and may likely continue to do-this season.
"Vote!" Yost told USA Today Sports. "The votes are the votes. If you don't like it, go out there and vote. Our fans have gotten out and voted.
"Does seven starters surprise you? Yeah. But once you sit back and think about it, it's really not that surprising.''
Yost's challenge is a bit of a long shot for baseball fans who may want to right the ship. As it stands, Infante is 200,000 votes shy of having more votes than Jason Kipnis, Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia combined and has jumped 300,000 votes ahead of Houston's Jose Altuve.
Most of the Royals either don't seem to mind or simply don't care that the ballot looks like it does with three weeks left until voting closes, but to their credit, they are in the middle of a race for the AL central division and have other things to worry about.
"I don't know what people want us to do,'' Hosmer told USA Today Sports. "Are we supposed to tell people to stop voting for us?"
Royals outfielder Alex Gordan didn't disagree with the state of the ballot but acknowledged that there is a problem with voting system and that it may take eight Royals being named to the AL starting lineup to spur the league to make a change.
"To be honest with you, I've never agreed with the All-Star voting," Gordon told USA Today Sports. "I always thought that guys most deserving, and having the best years, should go, especially now that the All-Star Game decides who wins home-field advantage. But it's a popularity thing now, and after getting to the World Series, we got popular.
"But we get seven guys starting at the All-Star Game, they'll change the rule. They'll have to. It will be like a home game. Nobody wants to see one team playing against the other All-Star team. It kind of ruins the point of an All-Star Game."
The last time a ballot issue came up was in 1957 when seven Cincinnati Reds players were named to the NL all-star team after the Cincinnati Inquirer distributed pre-marked ballots in the Sunday editions of the paper. It's only fitting that another ballot stuffing issue arises when this year's All-Star Game is in Cincinnati.
The current record for players from the same team starting at All-Star Game was in 1939 when six players from the New York Yankees started the game, but five of those players were also voted into the Hall of Fame.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/royals-pace-all-star-starters-article-1.2259101
Dick Vitale @DickieV 
