The All-Star Final Vote was an annual Internet and text message ballot by Major League Baseball (MLB) fans to elect the final player for each team that participates in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, after all other selections were made and announced. The first 33 players were selected by a combination of procedures. The sponsorship changed annually, but the contest remained similar from year to year. Each league presented a five-man ballot and gave the fans a few days to choose one final All-Star. This process was used from 2002 through 2018.
All-Star selection The All-Star Game managers selected the entire lineups from 1933 to 1946. In 1947, the fans were given the ability to select the starting lineups. This continued until 1957, when Cincinnati Reds fans stuffed the ballot box and selected seven Reds and Stan Musial. This forced Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick to step in and replace Wally Post and Gus Bell with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron that season and to turn over the starting lineup selection to players, coaches and managers for several subsequent seasons. Since 1970, the fans have elected the starting lineup of one player for each baseball position (except the pitcher) for both the National League and American League teams.
In 2003, the major league players began electing a reserve for each position as well as five starters and three relievers, although the All-Star game managers performed this duty once. Now, the "Player ballot" includes coaches, managers and players across both leagues who participate in choosing eight reserves and eight pitchers for each All-Star team. Now, the managers only select the starting pitcher from among those pitchers already elected by the players. The managers also select the remainder of the roster spots except for the final spot while ensuring that each team has at least one representative. The All-Star game manager, guided by the baseball commissioner's office, then selects a list of five nominees for the fans to choose from for the remaining roster spot for each league's team.
On the Sunday evening nine days before the scheduled All-Star game, the rosters are announced and the All-Star Final Vote nominees are announced on a nationally broadcast show. The voting commences after the announcement of the nominees toward the end of the show, and continues for a prescribed number of days. Generally, a single daily update of the ballot standings is released during the voting. After voting concludes, the top vote-getter for each league is announced. Over the course of the seven years of the voting, over 100 million votes have been cast.
History
The first All-Star Final Vote was held during the 2002 season. The 2002 MLB All-Star Game had 30 player rosters so the fans were voting for the 30th player. The 2003 MLB All-Star Game rosters expanded to 32 following the 11-inning 2002 game. As a result, the fans elected the 32nd player. In 2009, the rosters again expanded to 33, including 13 pitchers, following the 15-inning 2008 MLB All-Star Game. In 2003, the first corporate sponsor got involved in the ballot. Over the years, the sponsor has changed and the name of the fan voting procedure has changed both with the changing sponsors and the number of roster spots. Billy Wagner is the only three-time nominee. Shane Victorino and Mike Moustakas are the only two-time winners. No second baseman or designated hitter has been elected.
In 2019, MLB discontinued the All-Star Final Vote.
Winners Year Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) American League National League 2002 Johnny Damon BOS CF (0/8) Andruw Jones ATL CF (1/7) 2003 Jason Varitek BOS C (0/7) Geoff Jenkins MIL LF (0/6) 2004 Hideki Matsui NYY LF (1/2) Bobby Abreu PHI RF (0/9) 2005 Scott Podsednik CHW OF (0/5) Roy Oswalt HOU SP (0/5) 2006 A. J. Pierzynski CHW C (1/9) Nomar Garciaparra LAD 1B (5/11) 2007 Hideki Okajima BOS RP (0/1) Chris Young SD SP (0/4) 2008 Evan Longoria TB 3B (0/1) Corey Hart MIL OF (0/5) 2009 Brandon Inge DET 3B (0/9) Shane Victorino PHI CF (0/7) 2010 Nick Swisher NYY OF (0/7) Joey Votto CIN 1B (0/4) 2011 Paul Konerko CHW 1B (4/15) Shane Victorino PHI OF (1/8) 2012 Yu Darvish TEX SP (0/1) David Freese STL 3B (0/4) 2013 Steve Delabar TOR RP (0/2) Freddie Freeman ATL 1B (0/4) 2014 Chris Sale CHW SP (2/4) Anthony Rizzo CHC 1B (0/3) 2015 Mike Moustakas KC 3B (0/4) Carlos Martínez STL SP (0/2) 2016 Michael Saunders TOR OF (0/8) Brandon Belt SF 1B (0/6) 2017 Mike Moustakas KC 3B (1/6) Justin Turner LAD 3B (0/8) 2018 Jean Segura SEA SS (2/7) Jesús Aguilar MIL 1B (1/5)
All charts include seasons (including the current one at the time of the voting) in which the player has appeared in a Major League game for years of experience. Below are some additional abbreviations used throughout. All-star game experience is based on the time of the final ballot nominations (before voting).
P – pitcher SP – starting pitcher RP – relief pitcher C – catcher 1B – first baseman 2B – second baseman SS – shortstop
3B – third baseman RF – right fielder CF – center fielder LF – left fielder OF – outfielder DH – designated hitter
ANA – Anaheim Angels (until 2004) / LAA (2005–present) – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ARZ – Arizona Diamondbacks ATL – Atlanta Braves BAL – Baltimore Orioles BOS – Boston Red Sox CHC – Chicago Cubs CHW – Chicago White Sox CIN – Cincinnati Reds CLE – Cleveland Indians COL – Colorado Rockies
DET – Detroit Tigers FLA – Florida Marlins (until 2011) / MIA (2012–present) – Miami Marlins HOU – Houston Astros KC – Kansas City Royals LAD – Los Angeles Dodgers MIL – Milwaukee Brewers MIN – Minnesota Twins MTL - Montreal Expos (until 2004) / WSH (2005–present) – Washington Nationals NYM – New York Mets NYY – New York Yankees
OAK – Oakland Athletics PHI – Philadelphia Phillies PIT – Pittsburgh Pirates SD – San Diego Padres SF – San Francisco Giants SEA – Seattle Mariners STL – St. Louis Cardinals TB – Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays TEX – Texas Rangers TOR – Toronto Blue Jays
Results +Key*Election winners^All-Star Game substitutes
2002 candidates In 2002, the All-Star game rosters had 30 positions on each team so the fan voting was for the thirtieth roster spot. As a result, the official name of the contest was "The All-Star 30th Man". The voting lasted only two days and was held exclusively online through each of the 30 teams' official websites and ESPN.com. The voting for the July 9, 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote started on June 30 and concluded on with the announcement of the results on July 2, 2002. Both winners, Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones played center field and recorded 3 official All-Star game at bats.
Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Votes Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Votes American League National League Johnny Damon* BOS CF (0/8) 692,989 Andruw Jones* ATL CF (1/7) 559,752 Jim Thome CLE 1B (3/12) 666,825 Brian Giles PIT RF (2/8) 488,725 Eric Chavez OAK 3B (0/5) 266,110 Larry Walker COL RF (5/14) 297,174 Magglio Ordóñez CHW RF (3/6) 179,951 Albert Pujols STL 1B (1/2) 267,196 Darin Erstad ANA CF (2/7) 122,458 Ryan Klesko SD 1B (1/11) 138,824
2003 candidates
In 2003 the final vote had a named sponsor and the rosters expanded to 32 positions. In 2003, ballot substitution was instituted. On Monday July 7, 2003, Kenny Lofton was added to the ballot to replace the Chicago Cubs' Corey Patterson who was injured on the day before. The voting for the July 15, 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote was extended to three days beginning Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 8pm Eastern Time and ending on Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at 6 pm Eastern Time. Although the leading vote totals (Geoff Jenkins – 2,872,200, Jason Varitek – 3,210,509 of a total 10.8 million) were released in 2003 individual results were not released for all contestants. In fact, the American League did not even release the final ordinal vote ranking with the final results so only the last update ordinal vote ranking is shown below.
Neither Varitek nor Jenkins played, but both Giambi and Castillo batted as well as played in the field 2003 game as substitutes. Giambi replaced Mike Sweeney. Castillo was a last-minute addition to the team.
Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) American League National League Jason Varitek* BOS C (0/7) Geoff Jenkins* MIL LF (0/6) Frank Thomas CHW DH (5/14) Benito Santiago SFG C (5/18) Jason Giambi^ NYY 1B (3/9) Kenny Lofton PIT CF (6/13) Eric Byrnes OAK OF (0/4) Orlando Cabrera MON SS (0/7) Bengie Molina ANA C (0/6) Luis Castillo^ FLA 2B (1/8)
2004 candidates
The voting for the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 4, 2004, and ending on Wednesday, July 7, 2004. The final results were announced with ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and approximate winning vote totals (Hideki Matsui – 1.2 million, Bobby Abreu – 2 million, of more than 9.5 million votes). Abreu appeared as a pinch hitter, while Matsui both pinch hit and played left field.
Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) American League National League Hideki Matsui* NYY LF (1/2) Bobby Abreu* PHI RF (0/9) Frank Thomas CHW DH (5/15) Aramis Ramírez CHC 3B (0/7) Paul Konerko CHW 1B (1/8) Steve Finley ARZ CF (2/16) Lew Ford MIN OF (0/2) Jason Kendall PIT C (3/9) Travis Hafner CLE DH (0/3) Juan Pierre FLA CF (0/5)
2005 candidates
In 2005, the contest was again called the "Ameriquest All-Star Final Vote". The voting for the July 12, 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 3, 2005, and ending on Wednesday, July 6, 2005. This marked the first time pitchers were nominated and the entire National League ballot was composed of pitchers. The American League ballot was composed of four outfielders and a shortstop. 2005 marked the first year that cell phone text message voting was possible. Derek Jeter and Roy Oswalt took the voting lead after Day 1. By Day 2, Scott Podsednik overtook Jeter and went on to win. Again, ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and winning vote totals (Podsednik – 3,965,473, Oswalt – 2,652,549 of 15 million votes) were revealed.
Wagner was named to the 2005 team as a replacement for Pedro Martínez but did not play. Both Oswalt and Podsednik played, but Podsednik did not record an official at bat.
Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) Player Team Position Experience(All Star / Seasons) American League National League Scott Podsednik* CHW LF (0/5) Roy Oswalt* HOU SP (0/5) Derek Jeter NYY SS (6/11) Trevor Hoffman SD RP (4/13) Torii Hunter MIN CF (1/9) Brandon Webb ARZ SP (0/3) Hideki Matsui NYY LF (2/3) Billy Wagner^ PHI RP (3/11) Carl Crawford TB LF (1/4) Brett Myers PHI SP (0/4)
2006 candidates
In 2006, the contest was called the "Monster All-Star Final Vote". The voting for the July 11, 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Final Vote again continued for three days, running from Sunday, July 2, 2006, and ending on Wednesday, July 5, 2006. Again, only the ordinal vote rankings (shown below) and the leading vote getter totals (Nomar Garciaparra – 4 million, A. J. Pierzynski – over 3.6 million of 18.6 million votes) were announced by Major League Baseball.
Liriano and Capuano were selected for the All-Star team as substitutes, but did not play. Liriano replaced José Contreras, and Capuano replaced Tom Glavine. Neither Garciaparra nor Pierzynski played.