Make Your Vote Count!

[Killer_Bs]

Read this in Baseball Weekly this week, and I would like to encourage you guys to participate.

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Take your seat at the bargaining table

Friends and fellow fans, it's time to strike back.

You're unhappy, angry even, but you're still paying attention to baseball this year.

You're showing them by not showing up at the ballparks, but you're tuned in.

You're frustrated because you're sure they won't listen, but you can really make a statement. Listen up.

It doesn't matter where you stand on any of the off-field issues that are ruining our enjoyment of baseball, not to mention threatening to just plain ruin major league baseball as we know it. I'm suggesting a non-denominational protest.

It's a chance to prove we're better than the selfish, destructive people who like to think they own baseball. To be Gandhi to their Godzilla, Martin Luther King to their Prince Machiavelli.

Make it peaceful. Make it non-disruptive. Make it Twins and Expos. And make it the All-Star Game.

That's right, stuff that ballot box. Punch those holes, and don't forget to clear the chad. Go online until they shut you down. But, whatever you do, vote for Twins and Expos. Let's make all of them All-Star starters.

As it said in the unsolicited e-mail I got from MLB.com the other day, "VOTE TODAY — VOTE OFTEN."

Make July 9 Statement Day.

Turn the Selig Showcase into the Contraction Classic. How many Twins can we get into the American League starting lineup? How many Expos would it take to get under Mr. Commissioner's skin? To make his hometown All-Star Game our Milwaukee Massacre?

Do you realize how easy this is? In any given week, up to 300,000 or so copies of Baseball Weekly are sold. If you go to the MLB Web site (vote.mlb.com), you're allowed to cast up to 25 All-Star ballots. So, even if we could motivate just 200,000 of you, if each of you casts your maximum allotment of ballots, that's 5 million votes. For comparison's sake, Ichiro Suzuki was last year's leading vote-getter with just over 3.3 million.

If that seems a tad optimistic, those of you still attending games can pick up the slack by grabbing as many paper ballots as you can.

There's nothing stopping you from getting your spouse, your kids, any available relatives to join in. Spread the word in your workplace. Corral your friendly convenience store clerk and tell him it's a lot like cricket.

No write-ins are necessary. There's an Expo and a Twin on the ballot for every defensive position. Some of them you can pick without the slightest qualm. Voting for Vladimir Guerrero is a no-brainer. No problem with Torii Hunter or Michael Barrett or Jose Vidro.

How far can you go? Nearly every Minnesota and Montreal player on the ballot is having at least a respectable season. Expos third baseman Fernando Tatis is only recently back from an injury, and outfielder Peter Bergeron has been sent to the minors. Would picking one of them be a farce? How much more ludicrous would that be than what's being done to baseball and its fans? And it's not like there's no precedent for voting in injured players and .210 hitters.

Consider why this is the perfect form of protest. The numbers of fans not showing up for games this season has been noticed. Attendance is down in most cities, though it's difficult to suppress a snicker when the Twins regularly outdraw the Brewers.

Make no mistake. Baseball officials are scared. The MLB spin doctors mouth cliches about weather, about school not being out, the usual attempts to apply a little Teflon to the problem. But MLB representatives have been told to keep announcements of attendance figures to a minimum. Once a week is plenty, they're told. Too many negative stories are being written, you know.

They've noticed that you're not showing up. They might also have noticed that cable TV ratings show interest in baseball hasn't declined. But it's less likely they've allowed themselves to admit they drove you away with their winter of negativity.

After all, there just couldn't be any connection with that astute marketing in which the head of a company spends months telling consumers what a mess his business is, why fans of many teams should have no hope, why they should not fear teams holding fire sales but rather going-out-of-business sales. That's such good strategy you're excused if you get nostalgic for Richie Phillips.

In other words, you have good reason to be staying home. But that's punishing yourself to punish them. You like baseball, you just don't like how it's being run. Deep down, you'd dearly love to wrap yourself up in another fabulous season. But like an oft-jilted lover, you're afraid to leave yourself vulnerable to the disappointment of a somehow-shortened season that you feel is inevitable.

Some players have talked about boycotting the All-Star Game to make a statement about what they perceive as a lack of progress in labor negotiations and/or an unwillingness by owners to create an atmosphere conducive to a settlement. That would wipe out a showcase event, a night to which fans look forward. Our plan isn't so destructive.

We'd have a game. The best players of this season would be there. They just wouldn't start. Nobody gets hurt, except maybe for Selig's ego and some players who don't cash in on the All-Star starter bonus clauses in their contracts. Show of hands, who's feeling pangs of guilt about that?

If the players from Montreal and Minnesota get to cash in, that's fine. It's payback for a winter of aggravation.

So, here are the names, in their order on the ballot. In the AL, it's Doug Mientkiewicz, Luis Rivas, Cristian Guzman, Corey Koskie, A.J. Pierzynski, Brian Buchanan, Hunter and Jacque Jones. In the NL, look for Lee Stevens, Vidro, Orlando Cabrera, Tatis, Barrett, Guerrero, Brad Wilkerson and Bergeron.

If you just can't bring yourself to go all the way, to pick every one of them, here are a few substitutes: Darrin Fletcher, Cliff Floyd, Rondell White, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker. They all were 1994 Expos, who had the best record in baseball when the season was abruptly taken from them and us, starting a slide from which that franchise never recovered.

That would be a good way to remind everyone why we're doing this.
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[p090]

Thanks for posting this, does it happen to be online anywhere or is it just in the magazine?

[SaberGrey]

This would do nothing to influence either side of the labor situation in baseball. I'd rather see a fan boycot day this season in which as many fans as possible do not attend the games on that day. That would send the only type of message either side will understand...financial.

[Raven]

It might not do anything to influence either side of the labor problems, but it would make a mockery of baseball. If this were to happen, it would be historical. 5/10/30 years from now it would be remembered as the fans protest of baseball, and how it is being run.

[p090]

Boycotting the games is something which I do not think would send a positive message to either side in this debate.

The bottom line is they need the fans as this pays some of the salaries. I think that both sides have to recognize the importance of the fan base and respect it. Striking and locking out only cause rifts. Neither side is right. What needs to be done is get the game played and unfortunately it is far from being a pasttime for the players any more, it is no doubt a business. But it would be nice to see some pride or care about their jobs.

It doesn't matter what it is, if you are paid to do a job you should do it the best you can. I know we have seen many a player not run out a ground ball. If I sat in an office and just bumbled through my daily tasks since I knew it wasn't going to make a difference, chances are, I'd be fired.

On the flip side, the teams have caused a lot of the problems. Look at the Yankees who buy everything on the market. This instant outprices the teams in smaller markets. If you have no chance of winning or even the illusion you can pull it off without having a lot of $$$ to spend on a big name, why do you want to bother?

Everyone is wrong here. I think the fans need to point it out and make it known that we realize this.

[Killer_Bs]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by p090:
<strong>Thanks for posting this, does it happen to be online anywhere or is it just in the magazine?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Here ya go: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bbw/2002-05-22/leading-off.htm" target="_blank">Leading Off Column by Paul White</a>

[Killer_Bs]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by SaberGrey:
<strong>This would do nothing to influence either side of the labor situation in baseball. I'd rather see a fan boycot day this season in which as many fans as possible do not attend the games on that day. That would send the only type of message either side will understand...financial.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It may not influence the negotiations, but it would send the message.

Milwaukee in July with the starting lineups being announced as all Twins/Expos...couldn't get much better than that, other than having them win the pennett and face off in the World Series (if one takes place this season).

They could care less about Baseball fans, and this is a great opportunity for the fans to be heard and make a statement.

[rferry]

if the biggest tv share for a baseball game would be an end-season game between the expos and marlins to determine who wins the pennant and who gets the wild card slot might also send a message that people are interested in these teams, as long as they make an effort to be competitive.

[SaberGrey]

The point that is being missed here is baseball would still make money...even more than usual because once it was known what the rosters were, fans would tune into the game just out of curiosity. Sure, it would be commented on that it was a protest vote by the fans, but money would still be made and the owners would be more amused by the fan's "cute little protest" than threatened.

This protest would also mean nothing to the players. Many of them have already talked of plans to boycott the all-star game, so they may actually be happy to see they are not selected to go to Milwaukee. Not to mention that the players from the Expos and Twins would probably be thrilled to go because they don't usually get the media coverage.

I still say a one day (or more) fan boycott of games would send the message. This flexes the financial might that fans don't realize they have. Without fans there is no money for either side of the labor issue. Without fans there is no tv coverage. Without fans there is no money, period. This would send the message to both sides, not some cute little stunt of voting in certain players to the all-star game.

Now, if both ideas were accomplished...now we're talking!

[Carpentron]

The only thing about a fan boycott day is that it's pretty unrealistic. I don't think you could get enough people to do it to make a difference. Like it or not, enough people enjoy the game and don't pay attention to the details that it's just too hard to pull off. The all star ballot, though, is easy to do and could very well appeal to people who are casual fans of the game just because of its anti-establishment nature. In other words, it might not get as much done but at least it can actually happen.

[LMNt: The synthesized love machine]

Lets make history.

[Killer_Bs]

There are already 3 Expos in the top 3 at their positions in the National League.

Vlad, Vidro and Barrett are all close already.

Hopefully enough people around the country will jump on and push them, and their 5 other teammates through to the big game in Milwaukee

<small>[ 05-30-2002, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Killer_Bs ]</small>

[Killer_Bs]

Here are the Current results:
<a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0529/1388440.html" target="_blank">American League</a>

<a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0528/1387975.html" target="_blank">National League</a>

[Killer_Bs]

One week after the Baseball Weekly article, several Twins have jumped up in the rankings:
<a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0603/1390394.html" target="_blank">Latest All Star Voting</a>

Unfortunately the Expos aren't doing so well, but there is still time

[Dxgarnett]

Outfield
1. Barry Bonds, Giants, 315,557
2. Sammy Sosa, Cubs, 273,421
3. Vladimir Guerrero, Expos, 197,199
4. Lance Berkman, Astros, 164,074
5. Moises Alou, Cubs, 127,908
6. Armando Rios, Pirates, 97,911
7. Chipper Jones, Braves, 81,798
8. Jim Edmonds, Cardinals, 78,843
9. Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks, 74,817
10. Ken Griffey Jr., Reds, 72,511
11. Steve Finley, Diamondbacks, 67,417
12. Andruw Jones, Braves, 63,574
13. Cliff Floyd, Marlins, 63,294
14. Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 57,276
15. Preston Wilson, Marlins, 52,935

It's a wonder why guys like Alou and Rios are ahead of guys like Chipper,Griffey,Edmonds(should easily start over Vlad, and this is coming from an Astros fan, not a Cards fan), Lu Go, Griffey, Andruw, Floyd,Pujols and Preston...!?!?

[CoachL]

I just spent the last half hour using my votes on the expos and twins. I don't care about the rest of baseball, I want to see this happen in Bud Selig's park in Milwaukee.

[Killer_Bs]

Dx I posted about that in the Pirates thread...it looks like Rios is in the spot that Giles would normally come in.