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Final Vote ends today


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While watching the Yankees-Tigers game (currently 10-3 Detroit), Gary Thorne said that Matsui has a wide margin over Konerko in the voting. Another All-Star Game, another 50,000 Yankees in it. Well, at least PK, Frank, Buerhle, Uribe, & Shingo can rest up with the rest of the squad and go on a tear in the 2nd half.

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While watching the Yankees-Tigers game (currently 10-3 Detroit), Gary Thorne said that Matsui has a wide margin over Konerko in the voting.  Another All-Star Game, another 50,000 Yankees in it.  Well, at least PK, Frank, Buerhle, Uribe, & Shingo can rest up with the rest of the squad and go on a tear in the 2nd half.

Out of curiousity, I wonder if you add Frank and Pauly together if they beat Matsui?

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While watching the Yankees-Tigers game (currently 10-3 Detroit), Gary Thorne said that Matsui has a wide margin over Konerko in the voting.  Another All-Star Game, another 50,000 Yankees in it.  Well, at least PK, Frank, Buerhle, Uribe, & Shingo can rest up with the rest of the squad and go on a tear in the 2nd half.

We had no chance. You had NY and Japan voting for Matsui, and we had a lot of votes going to two deserving players. We basically cancelled ourselves out with MLB putting two of our players on the Final Vote.

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We had no chance.  You had NY and Japan voting for Matsui, and we had a lot of votes going to two deserving players.  We basically cancelled ourselves out with MLB putting two of our players on the Final Vote.

Conspiracy theory, I tell ya... :lol:

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I saw on the yankees website that shefield has pain in his arm when he does stuff, do you guys think that he could be taken outta the allstars ala zito, and if so, who would be put in? konerko i would want in there.

konerko in right field! thats what i'm talking about! ;)

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That is Juan Gonzalez territory, and it would piss me off to no end.  The all-star game is an honor, even if you are a 3rd or so choice.

It hasn't been an honor for years. It's a buls*** game and popularity contest.

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And it's official, folks. Matsui wins for the AL, Abreu for the NL.

 

07/07/2004 8:43 PM ET

Matsui, Abreu win Final Vote

By Mark Newman / MLB.com

 

 

Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu won the 2004 Ameriquest All-Star Final Vote. (AP)

 

 

 

The rosters are set for Tuesday's All-Star Game in Houston, and fans have decided that outfielders Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies and Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees will be part of the show.

The three days of balloting in the Ameriquest All-Star Final Vote closed at 8 p.m. ET, and those two players received the most votes among five nominees in their respective leagues, and will be added to the rosters as the 32nd men. Votes, cast exclusively at MLB.com, came in at a predictably frenzied pace -- more than 9.5 million votes were cast -- in this third annual program to complete the roster-selection process.

 

Abreu, with 2 million votes, is the National League's pick. His vote totals bested third baseman Aramis Ramirez of the Chicago Cubs, outfielder Steve Finley of the Arizona Diamondbacks, catcher Jason Kendall of the Pittsburgh Pirates and outfielder Juan Pierre of the Florida Marlins. Matsui won with 1.2 million votes in an American League race that included DH Frank Thomas and first baseman Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox, outfielder Lew Ford of the Minnesota Twins and DH/first baseman Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians.

 

It is the first All-Star selection for Abreu, and for Matsui it marks the second trip to the Midsummer Classic in as many seasons since he came over to the Majors from Japan.

 

Last year's Final Vote winners were outfielder Geoff Jenkins of Milwaukee and catcher Jason Varitek of Boston. In 2002, the first year of this program, fans voted for outfielders Andruw Jones of Atlanta and Johnny Damon of Boston.

 

Abreu pulled ahead of Ramirez in the final day of voting after a virtual dead heat between the two. Abreu has been a fantasy player's dream this season, as well as a key cog on a first-place Phillies club, hitting .301 with 17 homers, 57 RBIs, 68 runs and 17 stolen bases entering Wednesday night's home game against the Mets.

 

For six full seasons, the Venezuelan native has produced steadily superior numbers, though he's having one of the best first halves of his career. He has been regarded by many as an underrated superstar, with teammates such as fellow 2004 All-Star Jim Thome gaining most of the recognition.

 

"Sometimes those guys go unnoticed," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "People take it for granted [Abreu]'s going to hit .300. It's not easy hitting .300. It's hard to get 25 to 30 stolen bases. It's hard to get 100 walks, 100 RBIs, score 100 runs. He does it every year and people don't know about it. I know there's going to be people left off but to constantly leave him off every year isn't right. People should recognize what this guy has done."

 

Days after being bumped out of the starting AL outfield by Japanese countryman Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners, Matsui becomes the seventh Yankee on the AL roster. He joins three quarters of the starting infield -- third baseman Alex Rodriguez, shortstop Derek Jeter and first baseman Jason Giambi -- and outfielder Gary Sheffield, along with relievers Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera.

 

Matsui has had a flair for remarkable timing since coming over from Japan, starting with a grand slam in his Yankee Stadium debut. On Tuesday night, at the Final Voting entered its last day, Godzilla went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer. That not only raised his average to .282, it also gave him 16 homers -- matching his 2003 rookie total in just 82 games -- and 54 RBIs.

 

"The numbers I like are the RBIs and the home runs. Especially the RBIs," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, who also will be Matsui's All-Star skipper. "They are right in line with knocking in 100-plus runs.

 

"Where he sits in the lineup (usually, in the six-hole), it's probably more important for him to knock in runs and score runs."

 

The nominees were presented to fans by All-Star managers Jack McKeon (NL) and Torre (AL) in consultation with Major League Baseball. Voting began Sunday night, immediately after the Major League Baseball All-Star Selection Show Presented by Pepsi Edge, and it concluded Wednesday night, with a torrid voting pace. Last year, a record 10.6 million votes were cast in the Final Vote.

 

The Final Vote was instituted in 2002, and each year the campaigning for nominees gets more interesting and imaginative. Abreu probably benefited from an aggressive campaign by the Phillies, who put the outfielder in radio appearances, in stadium messages -- and even were in contact with people in his native Venezuela to help get out the vote there. One of the most interesting grassroots movements of this year's program, though, came from North Dakota, where Gov. John Hoeven got behind Hafner, a native son from Sykeston (pop. 160), and appealed to all North Dakota residents to vote for him.

 

"Travis is a native son of North Dakota, and he's batting with the best of them in the Major Leagues," the governor said Tuesday after voting for Hafner. "He's already a North Dakota All-Star, so let's make him an American League All-Star, too."

 

Hafner is one of three North Dakota natives currently playing in the Majors. The others are Bismarck's Tim Olson, a Diamondbacks infielder, and former AL All-Star Darin Erstad, a Jamestown native who is an Angels first baseman.

 

This marked the second year in a row that Thomas was on the Final Vote ballot but not chosen by fans. The Big Hurt was hoping to appear in his first All-Star Game since 1997. He was hitting .271 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs, but a recent cold spell may not have helped his chances with voters.

 

Now that fans have voted for the starters and the 32nd men, the third leg in the Year of the Voter comes on Tuesday, with the Ameriquest All-Star MVP Vote. Beginning in the sixth inning of the All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park, fans can cast their vote for the player they believe is most deserving of the Ted Williams Award for being the game's Most Valuable Player. The fan vote counts for 20 percent of the decision, with the media vote accounting for the other 80 percent. Anaheim outfielder Garret Anderson won last year's award, the first time fans could participate in that voting.

 

Mark Newman is enterprise editor for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

 

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Can't argue Abreu, as he was very deserving (so was Ramirez from the Cubs). PK, Frank, & Lew Ford were very worthy as well. The East Coast bias strikes again. :headshake

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