Yesterday the MLB released the official 2022 MLB All-Star Game voting. It's a bit complicated, so let's talk about it.
Background on the 2022 All-Star Game:
Taking place on July 22nd, the 92nd playing of the MLB All-Star Game- also known as the Midsummer Classic- will be taking place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. This will be the 4th time that the Dodgers (in some form or another) will be hosting the All-Star Game: the first in 1949 as the Brooklyn Dodgers in Ebbets Field, the second as the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum in 1959, and one other time in Dodger Stadium in 1980.
In the years the Dodgers have hosted the All-Star Game, the American League had won in 1949 by a score of 11-7, and 1959 by a score of 5-2. The National League had won in 1980 by a score of 4-2. Overall, the American League has won 17 of 21 games since 2000 (not including a tie in 2002) and are currently on a 8 game win streak since 2013 (not counting 2020, when no All-Star Game was played).
Managing the American League at the 2022 Midsummer Classic will be Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros, and managing the National League will be Brian Snitker.
The 2022 All-Star Game will be the first to feature a designated hitter as a position to vote for in the National League.
How to Vote for the All-Star Game:
A change to the All-Star Game voting process took place 2019 and carried over in a similar form in 2021 and again this year in 2022. What used to be a simple ballot system where whoever got the most votes during the voting process has now become a two-phase system of voting. Let me explain.
Phase One of All-Star Game Voting Process:
Taking place between June 8th and 2:00 PM (EST) on June 30th, will be phase one of the All-Star Game voting process. Fans are allowed to vote up to 5 times per 24-hour period throughout the first phase.
This is a completely open ballot where each team has a representative included in the voting process, as well as the option to vote-in players (for example, the Yankees DH representative listed is Josh Donaldson, so we could write-in Giancarlo Stanton- who is listed as a DH). From this, whoever the top 2 vote getters at each position will move on to phase two of the All-Star Game voting process. For outfielders, the top 6 vote getters will move on.
However, the top overall vote getter in the American League and National Leagues respectively will be automatically guaranteed a starting spot on their leagues All-Star game roster and if they are a non-outfielder, they will nullify the voting for that position in phase two. If the top vote getter is an outfielder, only the top 4 remaining outfield vote getters will move on to phase two of voting for the remaining outfield spots.
Phase Two of the All-Star Game Voting Process:
Beginning at noon on July 5th, phase two of the All-Star Game voting process will begin. Fans will have until July 8th at 2:00 PM (EST) to submit their final ballot for who the starter in the All-Star Game will be. Fans will only be allowed to vote one time during those 3 days and votes from phase one will not carry over.
The starters for the All-Star Game will be announced on the night of July 8th (time pending) on MLB Network during the 2022 Chevrolet MLB All-Star Starters Reveal Show.
Other Notes About the All-Star Game:
After the starters for the 2022 All-Star Game have been selected by the fans, an additional 23 players for both the American League and National League will be selected via a player ballot. The team rosters will then be announced on July 10th (time pending) on MLB Network during the 2022 Chevrolet MLB All-Star Selection Show.
As per tradition, each team in each league will also be guaranteed at least one player selected to an All-Star Game roster. However, this does not mean that they have to be on the roster during the game if the players opt-out of playing. Last year, a large number of players opted out of the 2021 All-Star Game after being voted in (by fan or player vote) which brought the total of 40 players for each of the American and National league teams.
With the New York Yankees set to have multiple All-Stars on the 2022 roster, check back tomorrow as I talk about who we, as Yankees fans, should really be pushing for!
