I've never liked the way that pro sports leagues let the fans vote for All Star starters; as I've always maintained, fans aren't properly educated and are all too likely to vote in popular stars that don't deserve to be there and neglect smaller names who are having tremendous seasons. This dynamic is magnified in Major League Baseball, where the game actually counts for something - the league that wins the All Star games gets home field advantage in the World Series, a far-from-insignificant prize. But for all my moaning and groaning about the perils of All Star voting, I've really grown to like MLB's "Final Vote," and think that with a few tweaks it could be the perfect way to get fans involved in the All Star team selection process.
Let's pretend, for a minute, that MLB were to abolish fan voting for starters and turn the duty over to the baseball players, coaches and sportswriters - you know, people that actually know something about baseball. Even if the All Star voting committee was properly qualified to pick the American and National League rosters, there would inevitably be a lot of debate over who made it and who didn't. Let's say out of the 33 players selected by the writers, coaches and players, 30-32 were obvious slam dunks. The other 1-3 slots would be up for debate, and the Final Vote would give the fans the last word in the process. By filling the five-man Final Vote roster with a combination of deserving just-misses (like Atlanta's Michael Bourn and 2012 NL Final Vote winner and St. Louis third baseman David Freese) and popular / sentimental favorites (like Chipper Jones, who was added this week as Matt Kemp's injury replacement, and rookie phenom Bryce Harper), the fans could decide which of the left out players they cared to see most.
Right now, I don't think the fans care too much about the Final Vote process. After months of voting online and in stadiums for the All Star starters, the fans are exhausted by the time the Final Vote period rolls around. If the fans lost the right to vote for the starters, however, they'd have to focus all of their voting-related energy to selecting the 34th man on the roster. Additionally, without the fan voting to screw up the core rosters, most of the truly deserving players would already be headed to Kansas City this summer. That way, the final vote choices could be primarily "fun" picks - guys like Chipper and Harper - without really impacting the quality of the game itself. Adding a guy like Chipper Jones to the 2012 NL All Stars is much easier to swallow when guys like David Freese are already going to the game - something that wasn't guaranteed this year in large part because the fans voted an injured Pablo Sandoval to start at third base.
As it stands, the Final Vote is a cool way to get the fans involved in the last phase of the All Star selection process. That being said, right now the Final Vote is too important - there are too many significant snubs to truly take the pressure out of the process. If MLB got rid of fan voting for starters, however, the 34th man on each team could be a de facto "fan's choice" meant to reward popularity, longevity and/or charisma. This way, the All Star game would be 95% serious - which it should be, given that the game's outcome means a whole lot - with 5% of pure fun sprinkled on top.
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