There's a report that baseball attendance is down 5 percent from a similar point last year. Seventeen teams have lower attendance than a year ago. Interestingly, the top 5 losers in this category are all teams with newer stadiums! (This bodes very badly for the Phillies in 2004.)

But check this quote from this AP article on the teams with lower attendance:

[quote] Seventeen teams have seen declines, led by the Milwaukee Brewers -- the team owned by commissioner Bud Selig -- who are down 149,670 for 16 home games.

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How fitting is that? BTW, the other four biggest declines: Pittsburgh, Texas, Cleveland and Colorado.

As for my protest, yesterday when I was at Camden Yards they handed out the 2002 All-Star ballots, and since I am not as well-versed on all of the players around the leagues as I'd like, I didn't want to be bothered making selections...but then I got an idea. A way to send a message to MLB about how they've been handling their affairs.

I ended up voting for no one but Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins players at each position!

I'd love to see this idea catch on. Especially since you can still, if I'm not mistaken, vote for the All-Stars online at mlb.com.

I consider this a GREAT idea, and I'll be glad to cast all my votes for the Twins and the Expos. I wonder how it might be possible to get the word out about this protest, to baseball fans nationwide? I think there may be a good number of fans who have finally grown tired of being abused by the baseball powers-that-be...

Hey Joe, I'm way ahead of ya. I've already voted three times in the way you suggest (and I'll be punching out those little holes again this Saturday). Great minds think alike, eh?

On-line All-Star voting at MLB.com allows a maximum of 25 votes per e-mail address. Hmmm, let's see, 25 votes, times 800 Outsports members, equals... well, you do the math. "You say you want a revolution,..." Anti-contractionists, Unite!

Excellent plan! I'll do so at Yankee Stadium AND Shea when I finally go.

I voted this past Friday night at Dodger Stadium, and, though I did vote for some others I consider deserving, in positions where I was either unsure of whom to vote for or was torn between more than one player, I voted Twins & Expos for the very reason mentioned in this thread. Next visit to the satdium, I'll do the same.


~Adam

[quote]Originally posted by Seph:
Hey Joe, I'm way ahead of ya. I've already voted three times in the way you suggest (and I'll be punching out those little holes again this Saturday). Great minds think alike, eh?

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Absolutely!

[quote] On-line All-Star voting at MLB.com allows a maximum of 25 votes per e-mail address. Hmmm, let's see, 25 votes, times 800 Outsports members, equals... well, you do the math. "You say you want a revolution,..." Anti-contractionists, Unite!

---

And if you have multiple e-mail addresses....

By way of making it easy for visitors to this particular thread to participate in our gentle rebellion, I thought it would be helpful to provide a few links; thus, you're just a couple clicks away from making your opinions known...

To access your All Star Game Ballot, click on the hypertext link below, then click on the button in the upper right corner of the MLB Homepage, where it says "Radio Shack Major League Baseball All Star Game 2002 Online Ballot vote!" (You will be asked to register before voting.)

The Official Site of Major League Baseball

To ensure that our little act of civil disobedience makes its impression felt more clearly, I also intend to e-mail Major League Baseball with my notification of HOW and WHY I'm casting my ballots this season, as a protest against contraction, and I encourage others to do the same. Even if you can't bring yourself to vote FOR Twins and Expos players, instead of your beloved hometown team, your personal e-mail voicing your opposition to contraction will have an impact.

Send Your Message to the MLB

Finally, does everyone know that there is a grassroots online pledge-drive where we, as individual baseball fans , can state the amount we'd be willing to donate toward a fund for purchasing the Montreal Expos? This idea was the brainstorm of the news-staff at the Daily Pennsylvanian, conceived as a plan to "make the message loud and clear that contraction stinks and the Expos are worth saving." This began as a playfully sincere enterprise, yet now over 3 million dollars have been pledged. (This remains a "virtual fund;" no one is collecting real cash at this point and you're not obliged to contribute the amount you state, though good-faith offers should be given, not fantastic sums.) The link below will provide more details.

Buying the Expos

Baseball Fans, arise! Reclaim Our Glorious Game! (As a middle-aged perpetual child of the '60s, I couldn't resist the urge to coin a protest slogan, simple-minded as it might be...)

I'm definitely going along with this too. Thanks for the idea, Joe.
This is for you, Bud.
And because I hate the absurd way that all-stars are picked, favoring big franchises, internet geek preferences (wait, that's us), and famous has-beens. Expect lots of write-ins for Ripken.
I've already voted 3 out of my times from one of my computers. And I have gotten at least two non-Outsports (str8) friends to go along too. So it's 25 x 800 x ... x ...
Go Twins and Expos!
(I hope Cyd doesn't get blamed for this one too)

Just one more bit of civil disobedience. I was filling out the online ballot and noticed that there is a place to pick your two favorite ball clubs. I think we can further skew their demographics. I chose, you're not going to believe this, the Twins and Expos.

I just noticed on the MLB website, you can "cast your All-Star Game ballot in English, Spanish or Japanese." But not in French, of course. MLB will do whatever it takes to keep nos amours Les Expos de Montréal off the field.

Come on MLB, Japanese? What team is in a predominantly Japanese-speaking city?

btw, the All-Star game will be held in Selig's Milwaukee backyard this year. I bet Budwig will get a good seat.

Expos, Twins. Expos, Twins. Expos, Twins.

Bump.

Thanks for the ideas and the links. Count me in. Bud Selig is the absolute worst face of professional sports, bar none. Whiny, bratty multimillionaire pleading poverty. Sickening! Just like the "Doonesbury" cartoons now running, panning the Lays from Enron.

Thought I'd bump this to the top as a reminder for anyone who hasn't done it yet...and as a bonus here's an article about a pro league who, unlike baseball, learned their lessons...

Both sides out for same thing--Unlike other leagues, NFL has learned to work with union

This grass roots campaign seems to be somewhat effective. Currently, 10 Twins and Expos are among the top 5 at their respective positions, though only Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero have realistic shots at starting. Corey Koskie and Jose Vidro, while longshots, seem to still be in the running. Keep the votes coming!

American League

First Base
1. Jason Giambi, New York, 293,287
2. John Olerud, Seattle, 177,256
3. Doug Mientkiewicz, Minnesota, 151,533
4. Carlos Delgado, Toronto, 120,881
5. Steve Cox, Tampa Bay, 117,416

Second Base
1. Alfonso Soriano, New York, 380,947
2. Bret Boone, Seattle, 301,256
3. Frank Catalanotto, Texas, 184,937
4. Luis Rivas, Minnesota, 173,757
5. Rey Sanchez, Boston, 121,507

Third Base
1. Shea Hillenbrand, Boston, 262,790
2. Robin Ventura, New York, 205,693
3. Corey Koskie, Minnesota, 195,895
4. Troy Glaus, Anaheim, 152,499
5. Jeff Cirillo, Seattle, 123,470

Shortstop
1. Alex Rodriguez, Texas, 312,045
2. Nomar Garciaparra, Boston, 246,239
3. Derek Jeter, New York, 235,549
4. Carlos Guillen, Seattle, 177,620
5. Cristian Guzman, Minnesota, 98,762

Catcher
1. Jorge Posada, New York, 280,992
2. Ivan Rodriguez, Texas, 274,842
3. Dan Wilson, Seattle, 167,841
4. A.J. Pierzynski, Minnesota, 157,772
5. Jason Varitek, Boston, 144,209

Outfielders
1. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle, 513,684
2. Manny Ramirez, Boston, 326,948
3. Torii Hunter, Minnesota, 281,699
4. Mike Cameron, Seattle, 238,678
5. Bernie Williams, New York, 224,052
6. Ben Grieve, Tampa Bay, 212,006
7. Johnny Damon, Boston, 191,724
8. Kenny Lofton, Chicago, 162,564
9. Magglio Ordonez, Chicago, 149,091
10. Carlos Beltran, Kansas City, 147,735
11. Jacque Jones, Minnesota, 122,186
12. Rusty Greer, Texas, 120,359
13. Shane Spencer, New York, 115,476
14. Mark McLemore, Seattle, 108,058
15. Trot Nixon, Boston, 107,296


National League

First Base
1. Jeff Bagwell, Houston, 239,089
2. Todd Helton, Colorado, 194,186
3. Tino Martinez, St. Louis, 166,349
4. Richie Sexson, Milwaukee, 155,461
5. Mark Grace, Arizona, 145,107

Second Base
1. Roberto Alomar, New York, 353,979
2. Jose Vidro, Montreal, 253,992
3. Jeff Kent, San Francisco, 121,949
4. Fernando Vina, St. Louis, 118,865
5. Craig Biggio, Houston, 106,820

Third Base
1. Mike Lowell, Florida, 186,066
2. Scott Rolen, Philadelphia, 167,747
3. Edgardo Alfonzo, New York, 143,503
4. Aramis Ramirez, Pittsburgh, 130,736
5. Fernando Tatis, Montreal, 117,871

Shortstop
1. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia, 196,526
2. Rich Aurilia, San Francisco, 156,815
3. Rey Ordonez, New York, 150,730
4. Rafael Furcal, Atlanta, 136,416
5. Jose Hernandez, Milwaukee, 128,687

Catcher
1. Mike Piazza, New York, 402,015
2. Benito Santiago, San Francisco, 236,367
3. Michael Barrett, Montreal, 163,622
4. Paul Lo Duca, Los Angeles, 113,464
5. Mike Matheny, St. Louis, 74,031

Outfield
1. Barry Bonds, San Francisco, 472,337
2. Sammy Sosa, Chicago, 410,880
3. Vladimir Guerrero, Montreal, 307,432
4. Lance Berkman, Houston, 246,957
5. Moises Alou, Chicago, 225,212
6. Armando Rios, Pittsburgh, 184,000
7. Tsuyoshi Shinjo, San Francisco, 140,392
8. Chipper Jones, Atlanta, 133,829
9. Jim Edmonds, St. Louis, 129,824
10. Ken Griffey Jr., Cincinnati, 128,237
11. Steve Finley, Arizona, 127,809
12. Luis Gonzalez, Arizona, 111,899
13. Andruw Jones, Atlanta, 95,006
14. Albert Pujols, St. Louis, 90,676
15. Gary Sheffield, Atlanta, 90,345

[ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

I'd assess the Twins-Expos ballot protest as a flopperoo! The high standings of Guerrero, Vidro, Barrett, Hunter and even Jacques Jones can be credited to the quality seasons they're having... Doug Mientkiwicz seems the prime beneficiary so far.

I'm gonna use my remaining 40 or so votes to combat major injustices like Troy Glaus' ridiculous 4th-place status. And uh, do some fans think Rios and Shinjo are with Montreal?? Who the HELL is voting for them?

While the campaign has obviously not been a complete success (meaning that Twins and Expos would make up the entire starting lineup), I don't think that was ever a realistic goal. That said, the fact that there are Twins and Expos in the top five at every position other than NL first baseman is pretty impressive. I think I can pretty safely say that has never happened. I'd say that half of those guys (Orlando Cabrera is now 5th at NL SS) are there deservedly, while the other half are there because of the protest.