Selig will Notice.. The MLB All Star Ballot Message

What's the point, though? What is this exercise supposed to accomplish? Major League Baseball may well have already succeeded in getting what they want in Minnesota (a new ballpark) and even with a National League All-Star team made up completely of Expos, the crowds in that city are unlikely to rise and it's even more unlikely that a new ballpark will be coming up there.

I think people overestimate what could embarrass Major League Baseball. The Expos could win the World Series this year and MLB would likely still not remove them from the contraction list.

 

A new park is FAR from a done deal in Minnesota. The deal relies on a 100+ million dollar contribution from Pohlad which is iffy at best. Speculation is that a new deal will be forged in the next legislative session since a deal is on the table to have the Twins definitely play in 2003.

 

If you did a poll at stadiums across the country except in cities considered for contraction, you'd find many fans don't care. So would these fans be willing to take the time to fill in 25 ballots and spread the news? No probably not.

 

Well, I did say may well have, as I knew there were still challenges. But they have managed to get more done than ever before in terms of progress toward a new ballpark.

I just don't think Selig or MLB would care if the starting All-Stars are all Twins and Expos players. I don't think it changes anything, and I don't think MLB would be all that embarrassed to eliminate a team of "All-Stars".

 

Am I alone in hoping that some teams do get contracted? Part of the problem with baseball seems to be the dilution of the pitching talent. Even teams with great staffs like the Yankees and Red Sox only have 3 or four really good starters (okay the Yankees have five but pretty much no one else.) Eliminating the 50 worst players in the league is probably not such a bad idea. Plus, I hope V. Guererro signs on with my Yanks.

 

So, if this effort fails to land these Twins and Expos on the All-Star team does that mean that baseball fans want the Twins and Expos to go?

Wouldn't your time be better served writing to members of the Minnesota Legislature and the Governor to try and get a ballpark plan the Twins will happily accept?

If this was any major sport except Major League Baseball, the Twins and Expos would have left their respective cities a long time ago. Baseball's stubborn refusal to allow teams to relocate is all that has allowed the Twins and Expos to still be playing in the Twin Cities and Montreal respectively.

I guess I just think it's far more embarrassing to Major League Baseball to have the Expos playing to an empty stadium for years on end than to have some Expos end up in the All-Star Game (and you know, it could make Montreal look worse as then the "fans" won't be showing up to see a team full of All-Stars. "Heck," Bud will say. "We have a team full of All-Stars up there and still the fans don't come out. Obviously this is a market that needs to be contracted. Thank you so much for proving my point about the unviability of the Montreal market, All-Star voters.")

Voting these players to the All-Star team doesn't solve any of the problems these teams face. It's akin to having Business Week vote Enron as the World's Best Company for 2002. Maybe that would send a statement that the business community would like to have Enron around, but it doesn't rescue them from the financial abyss they currently occupy.

 

Yeah, you want us to vote for your Expos so you can see them in the All-Star game

 

I put Minnesota and Montreal as my favorite team if that counts for anything.

 

There are reasons why Montreal and Minnesota (or Florida or Tampa Bay) are being contracted, and "showing up" Bud Selig isn't going to save the teams.

Good luck though. A nice statement would be a petition to save the team.