All-Star Final Vote
All-Star selection
The All-Star Game managers selected the entire lineups from 1933 to 1946. In 1947, the fans were given the ability to select the starting lineups. This continued until 1957, when Cincinnati Reds fans stuffed the ballot box and selected seven Reds and Stan Musial. This forced Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick to step in and replace Wally Post and Gus Bell with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron that season and to turn over the starting lineup selection to players, coaches and managers for several subsequent seasons. Since 1970, the fans have elected the starting lineup of one player for each baseball position (except the pitcher) for both the National League and American League teams.
In 2003, the major league players began electing a reserve for each position as well as five starters and three relievers, although the All-Star game managers performed this duty once. Now, the "Player ballot" includes coaches, managers and players across both leagues who participate in choosing eight reserves and eight pitchers for each All-Star team. Now, the managers only select the starting pitcher from among those pitchers already elected by the players. The managers also select the remainder of the roster spots except for the final spot while ensuring that each team has at least one representative. The All-Star game manager, guided by the baseball commissioner's office, then selects a list of five nominees for the fans to choose from for the remaining roster spot for each league's team.
On the Sunday evening nine days before the scheduled All-Star game, the rosters are announced and the All-Star Final Vote nominees are announced on a nationally broadcast show. The voting commences after the announcement of the nominees toward the end of the show, and continues for a prescribed number of days. Generally, a single daily update of the ballot standings is released during the voting. After voting concludes, the top vote-getter for each league is announced. Over the course of the seven years of the voting, over 100 million votes have been cast.
History
The first All-Star Final Vote was held during the 2002 season. The 2002 MLB All-Star Game had 30 player rosters so the fans were voting for the 30th player. The 2003 MLB All-Star Game rosters expanded to 32 following the 11-inning 2002 game. As a result, the fans elected the 32nd player. In 2009, the rosters again expanded to 33, including 13 pitchers, following the 15-inning 2008 MLB All-Star Game. In 2003, the first corporate sponsor got involved in the ballot. Over the years, the sponsor has changed and the name of the fan voting procedure has changed both with the changing sponsors and the number of roster spots. Billy Wagner is the only three-time nominee. Shane Victorino and Mike Moustakas are the only two-time winners. No second baseman or designated hitter has been elected.
In 2019, MLB discontinued the All-Star Final Vote.
Winners
All charts include seasons (including the current one at the time of the voting) in which the player has appeared in a Major League game for years of experience. Below are some additional abbreviations used throughout. All-star game experience is based on the time of the final ballot nominations (before voting).
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Results
* | Election winners |
^ | All-Star Game substitutes |
2002 candidates
In 2002, the All-Star game rosters had 30 positions on each team so the fan voting was for the thirtieth roster spot. As a result, the official name of the contest was "The All-Star 30th Man". The voting lasted only two days and was held exclusively online through each of the 30 teams' official websites and ESPN.com. The voting for the July 9, 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote started on June 30 and concluded on with the announcement of the results on July 2, 2002. Both winners, Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones played center field and recorded 3 official All-Star game at bats.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Votes | Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Votes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||||
Johnny Damon* | BOS | CF | (0/8) | 692,989 | Andruw Jones* | ATL | CF | (1/7) | 559,752 |
Jim Thome | CLE | 1B | (3/12) | 666,825 | Brian Giles | PIT | RF | (2/8) | 488,725 |
Eric Chavez | OAK | 3B | (0/5) | 266,110 | Larry Walker | COL | RF | (5/14) | 297,174 |
Magglio Ordóñez | CHW | RF | (3/6) | 179,951 | Albert Pujols | STL | 1B | (1/2) | 267,196 |
Darin Erstad | ANA | CF | (2/7) | 122,458 | Ryan Klesko | SD | 1B | (1/11) | 138,824 |
2003 candidates
In 2003 the final vote had a named sponsor and the rosters expanded to 32 positions. In 2003, ballot substitution was instituted. On Monday July 7, 2003, Kenny Lofton was added to the ballot to replace the Chicago Cubs' Corey Patterson who was injured on the day before. The voting for the July 15, 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote was extended to three days beginning Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 8 PM Eastern Time and ending on Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at 6 pm Eastern Time. Although the leading vote totals (Geoff Jenkins – 2,872,200, Jason Varitek – 3,210,509 of a total 10.8 million) were released in 2003 individual results were not released for all contestants. In fact, the American League did not even release the final ordinal vote ranking with the final results so only the last update ordinal vote ranking is shown below.
Neither Varitek nor Jenkins played, but both Giambi and Castillo batted as well as played in the field 2003 game as substitutes. Giambi replaced Mike Sweeney. Castillo was a last-minute addition to the team.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||
Jason Varitek* | BOS | C | (0/7) | Geoff Jenkins* | MIL | LF | (0/6) |
Frank Thomas | CHW | DH | (5/14) | Benito Santiago | SFG | C | (5/18) |
Jason Giambi^ | NYY | 1B | (3/9) | Kenny Lofton | PIT | CF | (6/13) |
Eric Byrnes | OAK | OF | (0/4) | Orlando Cabrera | MON | SS | (0/7) |
Bengie Molina | ANA | C | (0/6) | Luis Castillo^ | FLA | 2B | (1/8) |
2004 candidates
The voting for the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 4, 2004, and ending on Wednesday, July 7, 2004. The final results were announced with ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and approximate winning vote totals (Hideki Matsui – 1.2 million, Bobby Abreu – 2 million, of more than 9.5 million votes). Abreu appeared as a pinch hitter, while Matsui both pinch hit and played left field.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||
Hideki Matsui* | NYY | LF | (1/2) | Bobby Abreu* | PHI | RF | (0/9) |
Frank Thomas | CHW | DH | (5/15) | Aramis Ramírez | CHC | 3B | (0/7) |
Paul Konerko | CHW | 1B | (1/8) | Steve Finley | ARZ | CF | (2/16) |
Lew Ford | MIN | OF | (0/2) | Jason Kendall | PIT | C | (3/9) |
Travis Hafner | CLE | DH | (0/3) | Juan Pierre | FLA | CF | (0/5) |
2005 candidates
In 2005, the contest was again called the "Ameriquest All-Star Final Vote". The voting for the July 12, 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 3, 2005, and ending on Wednesday, July 6, 2005. This marked the first time pitchers were nominated and the entire National League ballot was composed of pitchers. The American League ballot was composed of four outfielders and a shortstop. 2005 marked the first year that cell phone text message voting was possible. Derek Jeter and Roy Oswalt took the voting lead after Day 1. By Day 2, Scott Podsednik overtook Jeter and went on to win. Again, ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and winning vote totals (Podsednik – 3,965,473, Oswalt – 2,652,549 of 15 million votes) were revealed.
Wagner was named to the 2005 team as a replacement for Pedro Martínez but did not play. Both Oswalt and Podsednik played, but Podsednik did not record an official at bat.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||
Scott Podsednik* | CHW | LF | (0/5) | Roy Oswalt* | HOU | SP | (0/5) |
Derek Jeter | NYY | SS | (6/11) | Trevor Hoffman | SD | RP | (4/13) |
Torii Hunter | MIN | CF | (1/9) | Brandon Webb | ARZ | SP | (0/3) |
Hideki Matsui | NYY | LF | (2/3) | Billy Wagner^ | PHI | RP | (3/11) |
Carl Crawford | TB | LF | (1/4) | Brett Myers | PHI | SP | (0/4) |
2006 candidates
In 2006, the contest was called the "Monster All-Star Final Vote". The voting for the July 11, 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 2, 2006, and ending on Wednesday, July 5, 2006. Again, only the ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and the leading vote getter totals (Nomar Garciaparra – 4 million, A. J. Pierzynski – over 3.6 million of 18.6 million votes) were announced by Major League Baseball.
Liriano and Capuano were selected for the All-Star team as substitutes, but did not play. Liriano replaced José Contreras, and Capuano replaced Tom Glavine. Neither Garciaparra nor Pierzynski played.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||
A. J. Pierzynski* | CHW | C | (1/9) | Nomar Garciaparra* | LAD | 1B | (5/11) |
Francisco Liriano^ | MIN | SP | (0/2) | Chris Capuano^ | MIL | SP | (0/4) |
Travis Hafner | CLE | DH | (0/5) | Bobby Abreu | PHI | RF | (2/11) |
Justin Verlander | DET | SP | (0/2) | Billy Wagner | NYM | RP | (4/12) |
Ramón Hernández | BAL | C | (1/8) | Chris Young | SD | SP | (0/3) |
2007 candidates
The 2007 "Monster All-Star Final Vote" included only pitchers (the National League included only starting pitchers). This is the 2nd time (2005) only pitchers were eligible for the final roster spot selection. The voting for the July 10, 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote was the first four-day election, running from Sunday, July 1, 2007, and ending on Thursday, July 5, 2007. Voting leaders were announced daily. The ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and the leading vote getter totals (Young – over 4.5 million, Okajima – over 4.4 million of 23 million votes) were announced on the MLB.com results posting. Okajima (2–0, 0.88 ERA, & 4 saves in 38 relief appearances) and Young (8–3, 2.00 ERA, 99 K) are both first time all stars.
There was some controversy surrounding Roy Oswalt's nomination because he only had a 7–5 record at the time of nominations making him the only pitcher without eight wins nominated. However, he is considered by many to be the victim of lack of run support, questionable relief pitching and an average defense. This respect was shown by the players who had voted him to sixth place among National League starting pitchers making him the first alternate in case of injury to any of the five elected All-star starting pitchers. On the final day of All-Star Final Vote voting, it was announced that Oswalt (who was running third in the All-Star Final Vote) would replace John Smoltz who withdrew from All-Star game participation due to injury.
Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, replaced injured Colorado reliever Brian Fuentes. Neither Webb nor Oswalt played. Okajima did not play, but Young pitched 1 inning allowing a walk and a 2 run inside-the-park home run. As a result, he was the losing pitcher.
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
Player | Team | Position | Experience (All Star / Seasons) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American League | National League | ||||||
Hideki Okajima* | BOS | RP | (0/1) | Chris Young* | SD | SP | (0/4) |
Jeremy Bonderman | DET | SP | (0/5) | Carlos Zambrano | CHC | SP | (2/7) |
Pat Neshek | MIN | RP | (0/2) | Roy Oswalt^ | HOU | SP | (2/7) |
Kelvim Escobar | LAA | SP | (0/11) | Brandon Webb^ | ARZ | SP | (1/5) |
Roy Halladay | TOR | SP | (4/10) | Tom Gorzelanny | PIT | SP | (0/3) |