How Cincinnati Cost Baseball Fans The Right To Vote For All-Star Teams for Over a Decade

Do you still vote for your favorite baseball player to get into the All-Star Game every year?  (Frankly, since 1994 I haven’t even cared to pretend I care.) You may not realize it, but there was a brief respite from this tradition during which time the players who made it the All-Star Game got there based on people who actually know what they are doing rather than fans who merely want to see their own favorites regardless of how they are actually doing.  Who is to play to taking this decision out of the hands of fans?

The good people of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Hmm, maybe good isn’t the word I’m looking for.  In 1957 National League All-Star team included baseball players who would eventually make it all the way to the Hall of Fame like Stan Musial and Frank Robinson.  So far, so good.  Alongside those legendary names, the NL starting lineup included such significantly lesser lights Johnny Temple at second, Don Hoak at the hot corner, Ed Bailey behind the plate and two outfielders named Wally Post and Gus Bell.  How did these non-stars make it onto the starting lineup of a Major League All-Star team?

The newspaper in Cincinnati helped, that’s for sure.  The newspaper had printed out All-Star Game ballots with the names of Reds starting lineup, urging the town’s fans to vote their home team in.  By the time the votes were officially tallied, people like Post and Bell were at the top of the vote. By the time the game was actually played, people like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were on the bench.  Of course, there is a big difference between being an All-Star starter and actually having any input into how the game turns out.  The powers-that-be in Major League Baseball mandated justice in the form of allowing these second-rate players only one plate appearance each and actually kicked Post and Bell off it completely.  Meanwhile, Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick eventually made the fateful decision that fans would no longer have a hand in choosing players. 

So, how did things turn out for the 1957 National League All-Star Game after Ford Frick intervened to contradict the request by Cincinnati’s baseball fans to repopulate their own team in the biggest exhibition event in the sport?  Afraid you might ask.  Despite the fact that Hank Aaron and Willie Mays  actually did wind up playing more than Wally Post and Gus Bell, the final score was American League 6, National League 5, Cincinnati Vote Stuffers ?