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All-Star Voting Trends for Dominant Asian Players?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by ron413, Jun 30, 2002.

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  1. ron413

    ron413 Member

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    Ok, I am just throwing this out there to show Rocket fans a possible sign that support for Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners might be parallel to what we could expect for Yao Ming. Obviously Yao will need to produce on the court with impressive numbers just like Ichiro has. (Rookie of the Year last year & leading hitter in the American League are a few of his accomplishments in his first two years.)

    2001 Season
    Having lost Alex Rodriguez to free agency, the Mariners outbid all other major league teams for the exclusive rights to perennial Japanese League batting champ Ichiro Suzuki, and then spent millions more to sign him. With Ichiro being the first Japanese hitter to join the majors, there was some skepticism, and last spring some baseball observers warned that he couldn't get around on good fastballs and would disappoint. The gamble paid off, however, as Ichiro enjoyed one of the finest rookie seasons of all time. He captured the American League Rookie of the Year Award, the junior circuit's MVP honors and a Gold Glove.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6615

    Here is the All-Star Voting Results for this years MLB game:
    (Ichiro was the leading vote getter by a wide margin both years)
    *Is this a sign of more support overseas, or just great play on the field that has produced these amazing number of votes? Or both?



    Outfielders
    1. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle, 2,516,016
    2. Manny Ramirez, Boston, 1,228,449
    3. Torii Hunter, Minnesota, 1,118,980
    4. Mike Cameron, Seattle, 1,014,881
    5. Bernie Williams, New York, 971,447

    Catcher
    1. Jorge Posada, New York, 1,160,795
    2. Ivan Rodriguez, Texas, 1,142,276


    First base
    1. Todd Helton, Colorado, 1,161,376
    2. Jeff Bagwell, Houston, 831,403

    Second base
    1. Jose Vidro, Montreal, 1,106,097
    2. Roberto Alomar, New York, 1,064,644

    Third base
    1. Scott Rolen, Philadelphia, 799,364
    2. Mike Lowell, Florida, 719,893

    Shortstop
    1. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia, 718,682
    2. Rafael Furcal, Atlanta, 588,670

    Catcher
    1. Mike Piazza, New York, 1,966,940
    2. Benito Santiago, San Francisco, 707,275

    Outfielders
    1. Sammy Sosa, Chicago, 2,062,038
    2. Barry Bonds, San Francisco, 2,056,743
    3. Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal, 1,307,622
    4. Tsuyoshi Shinjo, San Francisco, 1,053,352
    5. Ken Griffey, Jr., Cincinnati, 731,677
    6. Lance Berkman, Houston, 696,478

    American League | National League


    First base
    1. Jason Giambi, New York, 1,332,607
    2. John Olerud, Seattle, 719,073

    Second base
    1. Alfonso Soriano, New York, 1,681,510
    2. Bret Boone, Seattle, 1,315,320

    Third base
    1. Shea Hillenbrand, Boston, 863,779
    2. Robin Ventura, New York, 830,037

    Shortstop
    1. Alex Rodriguez, Texas, 1,316,645
    2. Nomar Garciaparra, Boston, 991,331
    3. Derek Jeter, New York, 907,719
     
    #1 ron413, Jun 30, 2002
  2. ron413

    ron413 Member

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    maybe we should give it a few years before responding to this thread.

    Clutch or Jeff- Can you throw this thread in a time capsule for us and make it reappear maybe as the Rockets move into the new arena?

    or not... you can just trash it in the other NBA section of the site.
     
    #2 ron413, Jun 30, 2002
  3. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    It wasn't the Japanese people that put Ichiro in the allstar game, the guy was flat out the best player in baseball last year. He wasn't a power hitter, but he certainly did everything else. High avg, stolen bases, extra base hits, runs scored, great arm, the list goes on. So, for Ming to be an allstar, he has to be better than Shaq. What are the odds of that? I mean, lately, I heard that Ming isn't exactly the superstar we thought he was in China. Soccer players still get more pub over there, so you can't expect for a billion, or half, or a quarter, or a tenth of the Chinese population to vote for him. The rest of this country is going to vote for Shaq, hell, I'm voting for Shaq. I don't think Ming will be voted in as an allstar by the fans until after Shaq retires to tell you the truth.
     
    #3 Oski2005, Jul 1, 2002
  4. ROXRAN

    ROXRAN Member

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    Let's not get racial Gawd, dang-dern DOG dammit :mad:

    It's whether you can do it or not.

    If you can't do it,... jet! You can? the shut up and...bring it! :mad:

    :mad:
     
    #4 ROXRAN, Jul 1, 2002
  5. Stevie Francis

    Stevie Francis Member

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    i think ming will make the all star team, hey china is communist some what, and they will force all 1.3 billion of them to vote for ming every year, even if he puts up numbers like ....gasp.... CATO.:D
     
    #5 Stevie Francis, Jul 1, 2002
  6. Tenchi

    Tenchi Member

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    but soccer is LIFE so of course theyd get more pub
     
    #6 Tenchi, Jul 1, 2002
  7. chewy

    chewy Member

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    Shinjo of the Giants must've gotten some help overseas. He's a good defensive OF but his numbers aren't great and he came close to getting a starting spot. Ming will get some help from the Chinese population but as long as Shaq is still around I don't see him starting any all star games. When Shaq retires and Ming is in or near his prime, I can see Ming getting voted into some all star games. Of course, Ming will probably have to be a productive center for this to happen.
     
    #7 chewy, Jul 1, 2002
  8. mfclark

    mfclark Member

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    MLB, for the past 2 seasons, has had an aggressive all-star program going on in Japan, distributing ballots by the tens of thousands.

    That nearly explains how Shinjo got so many votes, though I'm sure some came in online as well.

    As for Ming in the all-star game: only if the NBA does the same in China as MLB did in Japan, which I really can't see happening; not yet, at least. Give him time, though.
     
    #8 mfclark, Jul 1, 2002
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