Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 28, 2006
Stuffing for a Good Cause

I haven't voted for the All-Star team yet, but I think I'm going to go pull the lever for Jason Bay.

Helped by a feverish campaign orchestrated by the team, Jason Bay is the leading vote-getter among NL outfielders for the July 11 game at PNC Park. Jack Wilson is second among shortstops, Jose Castillo is third among second basemen and Freddy Sanchez is fourth among third basemen -- even though all of Sanchez's 597,249 votes are write-ins.

The Pirates, with an NL-worst 26-52 record, have been running vote-for-the-Bucs ads during their televised games for several weeks. The drive designated to assure that Bay made the NL starting lineup was later expanded to include the other players.

Bay's ahead not just due to the ballot stuffing, but because fans around the country recognize he's one of the top outfielders in the game. For the Pirates to own an MVP quality player and not build a decent team around him is a shame. This is one instance where ballot stuffing is putting a deserving player in the game.

There is one mistake, I believe, in the article:

Still, considering that the small-market Pirates haven't had a player voted into the NL starting lineup since outfielder Andy Van Slyke in 1993, Bay is surprised by the persistence and tenacity of the Pirates fans. Each is allowed to vote online 25 times per day, and Bay acknowledges making a few clicks beside his own name.

It's my understanding that you can vote 25 times in total, since that's equal to attending 25 games and voting at each one.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:27 AM | All-Star Game | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Actually, it's 25 times per e-mail address. So if you have multiple e-mail addresses, you can vote in multiples of 25.

Posted by: Pat at June 28, 2006 10:56 AM

I've voted only once so far...and I did vote for Jason Bay.

Posted by: Christian at June 28, 2006 11:16 AM

I've voted for Bay too. Heckuva player.

Posted by: Tom G at June 28, 2006 01:21 PM

Also, it may or may not be possible to use fake e-mail addresses. It doesn't prevent you from voting, at least. There may be some way that they can invalidate those votes, however.

Posted by: calig23 at June 28, 2006 09:24 PM
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