Anyone who has visited an official Major League Baseball web page recently is likely to have noticed that the fan voting portion of All-Star Game balloting has begun.

Between now and July 3, fans can stuff the ballot box with the hopes of seeing their favorite players take the field at the MLB All-Star Game Tuesday, July 15, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Inclusion in the MLB All-Star Game is certainly a hot ticket for the players selected. Unlike other All-Star games in sports, the MLB game has the feeling that it is being played to win by both sides.

Some extra incentive to win was added a few years back when home field advantage in the World Series was given to the league that won the All-Star Game.

The All-Star Game also allows players to show off their home run swing during the Home Run Derby leading up to the big game.

Even the players not selected to the game get the benefit of a few days off to spend with their friends and families.

All in all, there is little to find fault in when it comes to the All Star Game. However, there is one particular aspect of the MLB All-Star Game season that needs to change.

That element of All-Star Game party foul is the fan vote. I know I will get lots of grief for saying this, but, I do not believe that the fans should be voting for the All-Star participants.

Sure, people will say that as a reporter I am being unfair to the common fan by saying that only members of the media and league officials should have a vote. But, let us examine what the fan vote portion of the All-Star voting really entails.

Unlike say the election for the President of the United States where a registered voter is only allowed to cast a single ballot, there are no such restrictions for MLB balloting. In fact, excessive voting is encouraged by the 30 teams who offer various prizes for filling out excessive amounts of ballots.

This is also the time of year where Ballparks will be filled with super fans who take their devotion to their favorite players to the extreme by filling out boxes and boxes of ballots.

That boys and girls is called buying votes no matter how you slice it. And yes I am not trying to say that electing representatives to the All-Star game is more important than electing the President.

Sadly, I would not be surprised if more people vote in the All-Star race than the general elections to decide who will run the country though.

As part of the ballot stuffing, certain power voters submit hundreds if not thousands of ballots. Of course it stands to reason that they are voting for their home town favorites.

Therefore, it becomes a battle of which team has the most active fan base in selecting some of the leaders of the voting pack.

So, instead of an All-Star game where the most talented individuals at a given position are selected to represent both their team and their league, the All-Star Game becomes like high school with only the popular kids getting in to the party.

Granted, sometimes the most popular player is also the best player at that position. However, there has been a long history of players with better stats getting left out.

Let us use Cal Ripken, Jr. as an example. As noted numerous times, Cal Ripken, Jr. was my favorite player to follow growing up along with Don Mattingly.

Few could argue that Cal Ripken, Jr. was a great ballplayer, and every bit deserving of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

But, as happens with all of us as we age, we are not as productive as we once were.

So, despite declining skills Cal Ripken, Jr. still was selected to All-Star games late in his career when he was still widely popular, but no longer the best player at his position.

There are examples of players on the disabled list getting a large amount of votes for inclusion as well.

Regardless of what Derek Jeter does on the field this year it is a no brainer that he will be elected to the All Star Game during his farewell season.

In fact, even if Jeter is somehow on injured reserve fans will likely still vote him onto the infield at Target Field for the American League.

Another wrinkle in the All-Star game is the rule that all 30 teams need to have at least one representative selected.

This rule helps ensure that no team feels left out, and harkens to the age where everyone gets a participation ribbon regardless of where they finish in the race.

And yes there are good players on bad teams. However, am I really to believe that a player on say the Astros is playing at an All-Star level?

Granted, there is probably not a perfect solution for balloting due to the fluid nature of the game and the ballots being released over two months before the game.

But, The fact remains I do not feel that allowing fans to vote as often as they can based on their ability to pick up enough ballots at the ballpark makes a mockery of the whole process.

And for those people not wanting to spend a week in Minnesota, there is always the Atlantic League All Star Game in Sugar Land.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I will not be filling out an All-Star ballot but I will start to plan my menu for the All-Star game tailgate.

Copyright 2014 R. Anderson