Japanese All-Star ballot available

Ichiro highlights a growing list of players in MLB from Far East
By Jim Street / MLB.com

Ichiro Suzuki has accumulated more then 15 million All-Star votes during his six seasons. (Mark Avery/AP)
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Thanks to a lot of his fans in Japan, Mariners center fielder Ichiro Suzuki has accumulated more than 15 million votes during the six seasons he has been on Major League All-Star ballots.

Many of those votes were cast online from his homeland, and it's time for fans in the Far East to again power up their computers and participate in the 2007 All-Star Game selection process.

The Japanese All-Star ballot was unveiled on MLB.com on Wednesday, and baseball fans in Japan can vote for their favorite players exclusively online through June 28.

More than 11.5 million votes were cast online last season, and fans can cast their votes for starters up to 25 times with the Monster 2007 All-Star Online Ballot at MLB.com, Monster.com, any of the 30 club sites and on major.jp, Major League Baseball's official Japanese site, until Thursday, June 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

When Ichiro joined the Mariners prior to the 2001 season, he was the only Japan-born player on the All-Star ballot. Fans from everywhere appreciated his obvious talent and he received more than 3.3 million votes, the most of any player.

Ichiro went on to become just the second player in MLB history to be named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season.

Now, seven years later, there are six Japan-produced players on the respective American and National League ballots, with the emphasis being on the AL, where find five of the six names can be found. The lone National League player on the ballot is Rockies second baseman Kaz Matsui.

The ballots don't include pitchers, so if Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has turned Red Sox Nation on its ear during his first six weeks with the Red Sox, is selected to the 78th All-Star Game, which will be played on July 10 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, the honor would come from All-Star team manager Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers.

There is one Japan newcomer on the ballot this season -- Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura. He started his first big-league season with a nine-game hitting streak, but was injured on April 23 and is on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain.

He was batting .339 with one home run and five RBIs at the time of his injury.

Other former Japan stars on the AL All-Star Game ballot are Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi of the White Sox and Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima.

"It would be great to be voted to the All-Star team and get to play," Johjima, a six-time All-Star in Japan, said on Tuesday. "But I have no special thoughts about my chances. It is early in the season."

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Regardless, Ichiro could go well over the 16-million mark in career All-Star votes.

His year-by-year totals are 3,373,035 (2001); 2,516,016 ('02); 2,130,708 ('03); 1,891,136 ('04); 2,743,784 ('05) and 2,367,736 ('06). He was the top vote-getter in 2001, '02 and '03, third among AL outfielders twice and fourth once. His only non-starting appearance occurred in '05.

Fans again will be given the opportunity to cast an All-Star Final Vote immediately following the 2007 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show Presented by Chevrolet, which will be televised by Turner Sports on Sunday, July 1. Baseball fans around the world will be able select the final player on each All-Star team via the Monster.com 2007 All-Star Final Vote ballot.

Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra filled the 32nd and final roster spot for the National League team last season by garnering roughly four million votes, while White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski finished first in the AL with 3.6 million votes.

It marked the first time in Final Vote history that a team from a West Division had a winning representative. It was the second year in a row that a White Sox player won the vote, as Pierzynski followed 2005 winner Scott Podsednik. Eight different clubs have been represented among the 10 all-time Final Vote winners.

Selecting the rosters isn't the end of the fun, either. Concluding the All-Star balloting process, fans will have the opportunity to participate in the official voting for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet at the All-Star Game via the Monster.com 2007 All-Star Game MVP Vote at MLB.com.

The All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will offer extensive online coverage and MLB Radio will have exclusive play-by-play coverage of the game on the Internet.

Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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