I’ve questioned my baseball-fandom before—like last year—and I think I’m doing it again this year. It’s the All-Star break this week, where the players who were chosen to the Home Run Derby and/or the All-Star Game head out to Cleveland, while those who weren’t chosen, head to wherever they want until games resume Friday. (Side note: out of instinct, I went to set my fantasy roster and realized I don’t have to do it until Friday!!!)

That being said, I have no clue who is in the Derby or All-Star game this year. I’d like to blame it on the new voting system, but to be honest, I really didn’t pay too much attention to the whole thing. Because I’ve been busy. I think I’ve talked about this in the past, but when I’m having a really rough patch, I fall back on baseball for stability. For the most part now, I’m doing pretty well, so I’ll just catch a few innings of a game here or there or see the alerts on my phone.

I’ve only voted for All-Stars a few times, maybe only when Jacoby Ellsbury still played for the Red Sox. This year, MLB changed up the voting, and although now that I’ve done some research it makes sense, at first I feel like it wasn’t explained well enough:

The 2019 MLB All-Star ballot will include two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star Game starters: the Primary and the Starters Election. The previous voting process had the top vote-getter at each position during a single voting period advance to the All-Star starting lineup. Now, the top three vote-getters at each position in the American and National League (and top nine in the outfield) will advance from the Primary round to the Starters Election.

CBS Sports

So the Primary Election is like the old voting: you just vote for whoever you like. Once that’s over with, the top three guys from each position and top nine in the outfield move onto the Starters Election, when you would vote for your favorite of the three.

The voting has been over a month in the works. The Primary Election began Tuesday, May 28 at 2:00 p.m. and ended on Friday, June 21 at 4:00 p.m. Then the Starters Election was a 28-hour period, starting on Wednesday, June 26 at 12:00 p.m. and ending on Thursday, June 27 at 4:00 p.m. The final winners were announced on Thursday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.

So reflecting just upon that, I had no clue when the winners were going to be announced, and I wasn’t home or really paying attention to my phone since I was at a baseball game. Had I known, I would have at least checked online or scrolled through Twitter better than I did.

I vaguely remember seeing Instagram posts from the Red Sox saying that J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts were going? And then I found out yesterday that Mookie Betts is also going? I have no clue if they’re starters or reserves without looking it up. I should know this instinctively. So who’s at fault here: me or MLB?

Most likely me.

Upon further review, J.D. Martinez is starting as the DH to replace Hunter Pence, who’s hurt, and Mookie and Xander are reserves. Alex Cora is managing the American League team—which I knew—and David Roberts is managing the National League team.

I thought I was only going to watch part of the Derby last night but I stayed up until after 10:30 p.m., and as soon as I got into bed, Pete Alonso won. I think Vlad. Jr. got robbed. HE HIT 91 HOME RUNS.

I’ll watch parts of the ASG tonight; when I read before bed, I’ll keep the game on, but I won’t be staying up to watch it all, considering the winner doesn’t even get home field advantage anymore in the World Series. (Yes, I’m bitter about that.)

So while you’re waiting for the ASG to start, enjoy some failed All-Star skill ideas I put together last year.

What are your thoughts on the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game? Do you also think that Vlad. Jr. got robbed?