Been a long time since I have been so angry about something a journalist has written, but his is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read, ever!  The New York Times published an opinon piece on Sunday (somehow I missed it) more than suggesting that the All-Star vote needs to be taken away from the fans.

Apparently, he wants fans to care less about baseball- apparently he wants the All-Star game to matter less, and perhaps not be watched by one single household!   His argument stems from the fact that fans voted for Manny Ramirez, almost getting him voted into the game. Many of those votes came as part of a movement to point out to MLB, the players union and the press how hypocritical the eligibility for the All-Star game is.

Rhoden writes:

Fans are not in the business of sending moral messages.

You know what?  You wouldn’t have written this entire column if fans hadn’t tried to send a moral message.  Secondly, the balloting for the All-Star game is one actual measurement of the popularity of the game that gauges real fan interest, as opposed to the modern fuzzy tickets sold number which does nothing towards gauging attendance.  It is the one place currently where the fan voice makes a difference on a national scale.

Lastly, if you think its the media’s job to send the moral message, well, you all missed the boat on this one.  And no matter what Mr. Selig says, he is not the moral compass for the game. He blew that years ago when he said  he didn’t think “steroids were that big of a problem.”  If he wanted to be the moral compass on this issue, there should have been a zero tolerance policy, strike or not strike, back in 2002.  You should have been writing to demand it as well.

While the media was writing piece after piece about juiced balls and smaller contracts, fans were sitting helpless in the stands watch the game that they loved and rolling their eyes because a guy who was swollen almost out of his skin was coming to bat.  They were struggling with their inner moral compass.  What changed between 2002 and 2009 that made it possible to write investigative books about Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens on steroids?  Oh right, Jose Canseco.

While I quickly concede that fans don’t always get it right, I think most of the time they do for the All-Star game.  Gone are the ballot stuffing Cincy fans.  Now, there are voters from around the world who can more easily base their votes on stats available from a myriad of media choices.  Raul Ibanez is getting the votes he deserves, and the fans were able to make their point about Manny- and get writers to write about that point- without actually putting Manny in the game.

This should not be an issue that should wait for the next round of collective bargaining.  This is one that players should stand up and tell their union they want added now.  And Mr. Rhoden and those that he deems worthy of carrying the moral compass for the game should keep writing about this until those players do- that is if he thinks he himself is worthy of that task.