00:00The ballot update is in for the National League and what a great season it has been for Andy Pahez
00:06of the Dodgers and certainly the fans have rewarded him.
00:09In fact, the Dodgers have the leading vote getters at first base, third base, designated hitter and center field, which
00:17makes some sense because the Dodgers are certainly one of the best, if not the best teams in baseball.
00:21But then things get a little dicey, especially at second base, Tom, where Ozzie Albies, there's a lot of players
00:26who have a better year than him.
00:28Drake Baldwin's missed a lot of time.
00:30Ronald Acuna Jr. is currently on the injured list, but I guess good job to Braves fans.
00:34They showed up to vote.
00:36Yeah, we often see this year in and year out where big teams in big markets have multiple players, regardless
00:44if they're 100% deserving of having those spots.
00:47Plus, you know, I think we need to have a bit more of a balance where the fan vote counts
00:52for 50% of something and then maybe GMs or managers voting something and then we combine those and say,
00:59OK, we had, you know, this player finished first, second, third.
01:01We have a different order when it comes to matters and GMs and kind of combine those so we get
01:06a mix of the players that actually deserve it, but then also who the fans want to see.
01:11The American League's leading vote getters is a who's who of the injured list at this point because Aaron Judge
01:18is on the injured list with over a million point seven votes.
01:22Mike Trout is on the injured list with a million point seven votes.
01:25I guess I think the Royals have been missing Bobby Witt for about a week and he's leading a shortstop.
01:30But maybe the biggest surprise of all is Toronto Blue Jays Ernie Clement with over two million votes, Tom here.
01:38So kudos to Blue Jays fans for getting it done.
01:40But there could be a lot of replacements coming in the AL.
01:43Yeah, we often see this every year where a player is deserving of being an all star, but he's just
01:49not healthy enough to play.
01:50He's going to have the votes.
01:52He should be there based on his stats if he's played, you know, I think 75% 80% of
01:56the games and then he's just not ready to go.
01:59So when it comes to Clement's number at over two million, a little bit shocking to me.
02:03I think it's shocking to a lot of people, as you see, there's only two players with two plus million
02:08all star votes, which is Shohei Otani.
02:11No surprise there.
02:12Ernie Clement, you know, Craig, I don't know if he'd be in my I don't know if he'd be in
02:16my top 10 if I was guessing other players.
02:18I don't know if Ernie Clement would be there.
02:19My top 10 of guesses for a second player or two plus million votes.
02:24Now, there's nothing that we could do about this, Tom, but I mean, in the end, I don't know why
02:29people complain, because if we're going to open up the ballots for people to vote their favorite players in, this
02:34is going to happen.
02:35People think that maybe the process should change.
02:37I don't know.
02:38I don't think so.
02:39I feel like fans get their opportunity to vote.
02:42And in the end, you know, the players and then, of course, the organizations have an opportunity to put in
02:48the reserves, including the managers.
02:50So I don't see this changing, even though, like, as an example, Acuna and Aaron Judge would not be all
02:55stars this year.
02:56But because they're very popular, they get in.
02:59What's going to happen every year, I think the fans, of course, deserve their say.
03:04You know, all star game ballot voting has always been a fun thing dating back to the times.
03:09You actually go to the to a game and actually punch them out with the little holes.
03:14That was always fun to do.
03:15I would like to see the system tweaked a little bit, but we'll get injuries and we'll get replacements and
03:21the fans will still show up.
03:24Yeah, they definitely will.
03:26And it'll be a great scene in Philadelphia.
03:28Citizens Bank Park this year coming up, by the way, in less than a month.
03:32We've got the Major League Baseball All-Star game.
03:34But as we said, the halfway point of the season has come and gone.
