Why can't fans vote pitchers in for the All-Star Game?

Question

I don't understand why fans can only vote for position players and not pitchers. Is it because there tends to be more pitchers on a team than position players (when you count starting rotation and bullpen), and doing so would make the ballot insanely long?

And I'm not talking about the Final Vote, where Okajima got voted in, because that is only for a select few who are chosen FOR the fans and they're not just pitchers.

Answer 1

Fans start voting long before the all-star game is played and would have no idea as to the status of a pitchers availability by game time. The managers of the all-star teams select their pitchers a few weeks before the game because they would know which ones would be good for a few innings. For example, a pitcher throwing today would not be available to pitch again on Tuesday and would take up space on the team without being able to pitch. The all-star managers also do not want to mess up the next scheduled start of a pitcher when the second half of the season begins. Therefore, the managers of the all-star game will select the best available pitchers that can throw an inning while those that can't won't be on the team.

Answer 2

You are correct, it is beause there are so many pitchers to choose from. For it to work, a commitee would have to choose a certain number of pitchers for the fans to vote for, which is sort of what the Final Vote is like. Another reason I believe is that it give the managers a sense of actually managing a team considering the fact that all the position players are voted on by the fans (which is fairly easy due to the fact that each position has only approx. 15-16 player to choose from except with outfielders).

Answer 3

The problem is a lot of players get in to the all star game due to past reputations and past fantastic seasons. Nothing would be more true than for pitchers. There needs to be a percentage of 60% coaches and 40% fans voting. That way the season at hand would be focused on more than past seasons. So the answer is No.

Answer 4

With 10 answers already posted I'm appalled that only Frizzer gave the correct answer. Come on gang, stop blaming the fans for baseball's ills.

The reason fans don't vote for the AS starting hurlers is because fans can't know ahead of time the pitchers' regular season start dates. Heck, even the managers don't know. An Ace is very valuable to their team's success and the AS break tries to disrupt their schedule. as little as possible.

Answer 5

Fans don't have the knowledge to even pick the position players, much less the pitchers. This whole voting thing needs a redo.

Answer 6

its because the fans would screw it up. people(most of them) don't get that the All-Star game is for the best performers in the current season, not all-time. They should either let the coaches pick everyone or let the fans pick everyone. if i got to pick pitchers i would pick:
AL:
C.C. Sabathia
Danny Haren
Carlos Silva
Joe Blanton
Kelvim Escobar
Mark Buehrle
Chad Bradford
Fransisco Rodriguez
Joe Borowski

NL
Jake Peavy
Roy Oswalt
Brad Penny
Chris Young
Oliver Perez
John Maine
Jon Rauch
Jose Valverde
Francisco Cordero

Answer 7

Huh? Actually fans just did vote for closing pitcher Okajima from Boston Red Sox there were massive votes coming in from the fans from both Japan and the red sox nation?

Answer 8

I'm glad they don't. I wish fans didn't get a vote at all, but that won't ever happen.

That's left to the more intelligent people, the coaches. Guys like Bonderman would be an all-star if it was left up to the people. Oh yeah and Dice-K would be voted in by the Japanese population and that wouldn't be good unless he really deserved it.

Answer 9

Because the fans would just vote for the whole pitching staff for their favorite team.

Answer 10

Before I even clicked this question, I knew someone would vomit out some praise for the Yankees. THAT is why we don't get the vote. I wish we couldn't vote for any aspect of it.