Somewhere between the NBA Finals officiating, HGH in the MLB, Terrell Owens in Philadelphia, and Barry Bonds ? we?ve found yet another sports-subject to complain about. Fan voting. You know, the typical baseball-devotee ? MLB-aficionado ? who thinks his or, at times, her knowledge surpasses that of the commonplace fan. The one who always complains about the All-Star Game fan-voting every year? Only this year, ?It?s different?, this year the fans are out ?to get? the MLB ? designating all these undeserving All-Stars on the 2006 rosters. The only thing that I find any different about this year is the amount of complaining. It?s doubled ? at least. It?s what every trendy baseball-know-it-all is complaining about these days. It?s on the radio ? on ESPN. Hasn?t anyone noticed the complainers are fans themselves? Do they realize that fan voting has been around as far back as 1947? And, somehow, it?s just starting to create problems now? To understand the present, one must take a look into the past. The MLB All-Star game as been around since 1933; originally, the manager selected his entire team, however, in 1947, fan-balloting was introduced. This lasted until 1957, when a Cincinnati newspaper began printing pre-marked ballots for each position, which Reds fans used to congest the ballot-boxes. That year, Cincinnati Reds were elected to every position except first base and fan-voting was subsequently discontinued. From then, until 1969, only active baseball players and coaches could select the All-Stars. Fan voting was reinstated in 1970 and has been used to select the starting lineups ever since. Let?s get one thing straight: No matter how many Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, or Mets are in the 2006 lineups, no one is stuffing the ballot-boxes. Each fan has a limit of 25 votes online and has the opportunity to vote when he or she attends a Major League Baseball game. Now that we?ve examined the past, let?s get to the present complaints and use our knowledge of the past to determine the validity of them: One Representative from Each Team: Since the early days of the All-Star Game, a rule has existed that each-and-every Major League Organization must be represented by at least one player. Because of this rule, Mark Redman of the Kansas City Royals who possesses a record of 5-4 with a pitiful ERA of 5.59, was selected to the All-Star roster. Why would such a silly rule exist? One has to consider that when the rule was put into effect, each league consisted of only 8 teams ? at the time, one player from each team was quite reasonable. Now, the National League contains 16 teams in conjunction with the American League, which has 14. And while the number of teams has nearly doubled, the roster-size has only increased from 26 to 35. The rule was quite valid then, but in the expansion-era, perhaps the rule should be changed. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that if a team isn?t represented, much of its fan-base will be lost as far as viewing goes. Validity: Legitimate The Fans are Ruining the All-Star Team: This is one of the complaints that really gets to me. Firstly, the one doing the complaining is almost always an ascending fan who thinks he knows-it-all. Secondly, the argument is unsubstantial and doesn?t support the facts. One must realize that the fans only vote for the starting lineups, nothing more. Only eight-out-of-the-thirty-five players, or 22.8% (if you want to be technical), of the players are elected by the fans. If one is unhappy about the All-Star Team, he or she should be blaming the managers or the players, who appoint the other 77.2% of the team. What?s more, the eight who are decided-upon by the fans would most-likely be selected by the manager anyways. Validity: Nonsensical Representatives Should Be Selected by the Players: Some believe that the players are the most qualified to select the All-Star representatives. What these people do not understand is that players compete with their teammates ? most teammates are friends, and would vote for one another no matter their credentials. In fact, AJ Pierzynski publicly stated that he voted for each-and-every-one of his teammates at their respective positions ? is this who we want to be deciding our All-Star rosters? I think not. Validity: Invalid Representatives Should Be Selected by the Managers: Much like the above, this argument can be solved by simply looking at one of the current managers. Ozzie Guillen selected 6 of his own players ? some of whom were, perhaps, undeserving. Mark Buehrle, among those selected by Guillen from the White Sox, is 9-5 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, while Curt Schilling of the Red Sox is 10-3 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP ? you tell me who is more deserving. Again, in the case of managers, friendships and loyalties are involved ? the managers want to reward their players, especially after having won the World Series. Validity: Invalid Red Sox and Yankees Are Over-Represented: One of many new rules being discussed is to limit the number of players from each team. What we know is, media markets affect loyalties and fan-bases. Obviously, more fans follow the New York Yankees than the Kansas City Royals; but if one is to argue that the one-player-from-each-team rules is invalid, he or she must submit to the consequences. If the aforementioned rule is removed, the probability of big-market teams being heavily-represented is increased substantially. But such should be expected. Large states have more Representatives than smaller and have more electoral votes ? it?s democratic. No matter who appoints the players, such trends will be seen. Validity: Plausible Deserving Players are Left-Out: This is true for just about any sport?s All-Star game. I could go through a list of 30 players who were probably deserving of an All-Star spot and will not receive one ? but, there are only so many spots on the roster. As noted before, the increase in teams (and thus, players) and All-Star spots is disproportional ? players will be left out, it?s inevitable. Validity: Valid, yet Accepted Overall, this year?s All-Star Game was decided the same way they have been decided for the past 35 years. And until something as significant as the 1957 Reds ordeal occurs, there is no real need to change the All-Star Voting System.