Maybe if more Yankees voted for who goes to the July 15 All-Star Game in Chicago, maybe more of them would be going.
Initially, news that none of the Yankees’ vaunted pitching staff was selected for the Midsummer Classic was met with general shock and disbelief. How could such a thing happen?
But sources confirmed that less than half the Yankees took the time to fill out ballots as part of the new system that elects All-Stars. For the first time, Major League Baseball players were asked to vote on who makes the team. More than 90 percent of the league voted, while just a fraction of the Yankees, including Joe Torre, Mike Mussina and Derek Jeter, took part.
“We got about 20 minutes to do it,” Torre said.
Said Mussina, the Yankees’ player association rep: “I couldn’t tell you how many guys voted.”
Mussina did say the procedure was flawed. The Yankees were given blank ballots and little instruction as to what they needed to do and what the ballots were for, according to some.
“We had them on our chairs one day and we were told they had to be in before the game that day,” Mussina said. “The system’s being altered a bit and it’s probably going to have some flaws in it.
“I think it’s a tough situation when you put something in your locker and you arrive at the clubhouse and there’s no information as to how it’s supposed to be dealt with,” Mussina added. “I don’t think anybody knew it had to be in that very same day.”
So while the Yankees were whining that teammates Mussina, Roger Clemens or David Wells did not make the All-Star Game, the fact is the majority of them did nothing to change that by voting for them.
Gripes come with the All-Star Game every year, but this year there seem to be more problems with the game than the players participating in it. Many have said that deciding home-field advantage for the World Series in the game is a disgrace, and some said they believe it’s a slap in the face to all those who participated in it before.
“I’m a little resentful of the fact it was implied that we didn’t try to win before,” Torre said. “I don’t think that players are given enough credit, even though the game does not count in the standings, to put a uniform on and then decide they’re just gonna go through the motions.
“I don’t think those people exist, especially the ones that make an All-Star Game.”