Major League Baseball announced yesterday that the All-Star Game balloting this year will include Japan and the Dominican Republic for the first time.
And there were two catchers, Ivan Rodriguez of Texas and Mike Piazza of the Mets, who were also the top vote-getters in their respective leagues in the All-Star Game balloting.
INJURED LEAD ALL-STAR VOTING: With less than one week left in All-Star Game balloting, two of the leading vote-getters in the Eastern Conference are out for the season with injuries.
When All-Star game ballots are unveiled this week, Rodriguez will be the Yankees' nominee at designated hitter.
In the final All-Star Game balloting, Molina (6,883,258 votes) edged out Posey (6,474,088) for the role of the NL's starting catcher in the game held at Citi Field in Queens, New York City.
It was no surprise, then, that following the announcement of the five players from each league who made the All-Star Game fan ballot, and would thus be competing for the last spot on their league's roster, the network began openly stumping for the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.
The former slugger who admitted using steroids joins former commissioner Bud Selig, the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, former Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser and manager Davey Johnson, and five others on the Today's Game Era ballot to be considered for election. .
An update on the All-Star Game fan balloting had JASON KIDD fifth among Eastern Conference guards.
In the summer of 2005, the International Olympic Committee will choose the site of the 2012 Games by secret ballot.
Just consider the coin-toss elements of the presidential contest in Florida: a Millennium Millions game of butterfly ballots, wild-card judges and the festival of indeterminate chads.
