All-Star Game is nothing but a popularity contest

The All-Star Game should be an opportunity for the best players from the American League and National League to represent their respective position and attempt to win their league home-field advantage in the World Series. Fans, however, have yet again turned the voting into a popularity contest, resulting in undeserving players given an honor that others deserve.

It is time that Major League Baseball realizes that some fans do not understand what qualities make an All-Star, and they need to take voting for starters out of the their control. Allow the fans to vote for the final roster spot for each league, but no more. Too many players miss out on a great opportunity, and it needs to stop.

This season, it is so frustrating to see Derek Jeter and Russell Martin leading the voting at both of their positions. Neither one of them have been productive this season, and both are far from deserving to even be considered for a spot in the game. Both players, though, are from New York, and are lucky to have a faithful fan-base that will continue to vote for them no matter how bad the struggles are.

On Wednesday, June 29, Martin hit a three-run home run. It was his first extra-base hit since May 24. In the 19 games prior to the 29th, he was only 10-67 (.149 BA), and had eight RBI's.

In comparison, Alex Avila, the starting catcher for the Detroit Tigers, who deservers to start the All-Star Game, has gone 28-85 (.329 BA), with 2 HR and 18 RBI's since May 24. Steadily, Avila has become the premier catcher in the AL, while Martin has continued a downward trend.

Jeter has yet to play a game since going on the disabled list on June 13 with a calf injury. Prior to getting injured, Jeter was only hitting .260 on the season with only 12 extra-base hits.

Jhonny Peralta, the starting shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, and possibly the biggest surprise in the AL this season, has 30 extra-base hits on the season, greatly improved his defense, and ranks in the top ten in the AL in BA, SLG, and OPS.

If those numbers aren't strong enough to earn a trip to Arizona for the All-Star game, then I'm not sure what is. Sadly, fans around the league have seemed to be unsure how to vote for some time now, and MLB continues to sit idly by.

Photo Courtesy of AP File Photo