This is a North American League, why are we letting another country decide who plays in our all-star game? Do we vote for all the American players in the Japan Leagues?
There were a number of good points brought up in that thread, including, yes, you can vote for the Japanese All-Star series over the web from any country. In short, though, I would probably label the guy as a troll and ignore him.
If I were a troll myself, I'd probably reply with something along the lines of, "The U.S. voted an imbecile into the White House. Can they be trusted to vote anymore?" [Please don't reply to that. It was an example of a troll - saying something for the purpose of infuriating people with no tolerance for personal opinion.]
But the arguement that I find most interesting was:
The fact that Japanese fans seem to be outvoting the North Americans just might be a symptom of the declining popularity of the league here at home. If the Japanese are stuffing the ballot boxes, then it's time for the American and Canadian fans to take an interest and do the same.
First of all, I find it hard to believe that Japanese have been able to out-vote North Americans in any MLB forum. There has got to be a large number of domestic votes for these two to make any "ballot box stuffing" from Japan up this high. And seeing as how well these two have been doing lately, I think it's reasonable that a lot of U.S. fans are also voting for them.
Back to your question,
Is [there animosity in] Japanese baseball fans towards foreign-born NPB players like Rhodes & Cabrera?
In the fans? No. There are essentially two kinds of fans here in Japan, (1) those who vote straight their own team, and (2) those who are well educated with all the teams. Within group #1, mostly Giants' fans, they either leave the Pacific League ballot blank or vote for the names they've heard of. And even casual fans have seen Cabrera and Rhodes on the front page of the sports dailies enough to recognize them. How else would you explain former Hanshin Tiger Tsuboi (now with Nippon Ham) as #2 in the Pacific League outfield? (OK, so he is hitting very well this year.) Group #2 simply know that those two sluggers on the same team will give them some fireworks to watch. (Although it looks like a lot of them still think Ogasawara is at first base, and I have no problem seeing him as a viable alternative to Cabrera.)
Nonetheless, the question that you didn't ask is, does the administration hold animosity to foreigners being voted in? I think that some would like to see it be an all-Japanese event. But for the most part, they're probably relieved to see so many foreigners get their share of the votes. If no foreigners were voted on, then certain international organizations would start crying "foul," and start threatening trade sanctions on the grounds of racism in baseball. Rediculous? Wars have been waged for more rediculous reasons.
My impressions of the U.S. of late is that many of its people are turning toward isolationism, and are quick to label anything foreign as bad or evil. It's most likely a minority, but it's certainly getting to be a louder, more annoying, minority. This is in sharp contrast to U.S. business, and MLB in particular, which are all looking to expand into more international endeavors. As MLB expands, I worry that the isolationists will follow, spreading ill will to all.
"It's just not fair!" With his distinctive high-pitched voice, ESPN baseball analyst Harold Reynolds was in the zone recently on Baseball Tonight. The former player -- and capable analyst -- was lamenting the All-Star ballot totals of the two leading vote-getters among American League outfielders: Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners and the Yankees' Hideki Matsui. "It's not fair when you've got a whole nation voting for these guys."
And concludes:
Not fair? No, it's more than fair. It's the American way.
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Yet as evidence from at least three MLB forum threads, many American baseball fans loathe the fact that Japanese are allowed to vote for Japanese-born MLB players in the American All-Star game. So much for voting "by the people," just as long as it is our people who are only allowed to vote apparently. [MLB.com forum reference 1] [MLB.com forum reference 2] [MLB.com forum reference 3]
However, in this year's Japanese All-Star game, North American Tuffy Rhodes leads all outfielders in the Pacific League with 1,079,283, and South American Alex Cabrera leads all first baseman in the Pacific League with 777,732. [Official All-Star Results - in English]
I don't think American baseball fans are concerned with the Japanese All-Star game, so who is voting for the Americans Rhodes & Cabrera? Are there that many ex-pats living in Japan who are also baseball fans? There is animosity of American baseball fans towards the high balloting totals of Japanese-born MLB players in the American All-Star game. Is the same true for Japanese baseball fans towards foreign-born NPB players like Rhodes & Cabrera?