Some conspiracy theories are more believable than others.

Guess I’m not up to speed on what the Shyster flock are discussing, I didn’t know David is unpopular.

Anyway…I’m not cynical enough to believe MLB would rig the voting but I do agree that Manny at the All Star Game would be great for ratings.  This is the entertainment biz, no publicity is bad publicity.  And again to side with David, people enjoy their contrived outrage.  Anybody notice the size of the Memorial Day crowd in Texas?  Wasn’t that all about coming to express your disdain for A Rod?  Never underestimate the pleasure of hating.

As a fan of a National League team, I will be voting for the players that give the NL the best chance at winning home field advantage.  This means I will be voting for Manny.

Pete Toms:  Thanks for the support.  “Never underestimate the power of hate” is a good turn of phrase, but the sentence needs to be qualified.  All the hatred is fake, in my opinion.

Ryan: Manny doesn’t give the NL a better chance to win.  All of his achievements are obviously the result of steroids.  Clearly.  Just look at A-Rod.  He sucks now! 

(Sara K:  If I’m a wacko conspiracy theorist, then I’ve got some great company: Obi-Wan Kenobi!  I’m a huge Star Wars fans, and last winter I made this 10-minute video explaining how the whole Star Wars saga is, by George Lucas’s own explicit statements and writings, a tale of false flag terror and Obi-Wan Kenobi is, therefore, a wacko conspiracy theorist for discovering the truth:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_h41PEyU1w&feature=channel_page )

As a fan of a National League team, I will be voting for the players that give the NL the best chance at winning home field advantage.  This means I will be voting for Manny.

Don’t you mean Lastings Milledge?  Don’t let his demotion to AAA keep you from voting him to the ASG!

Yes, Manny would drive ratings, but I can’t believe that Bud & Co. would trade any tenths of a share point if it meant that Manny would be there. 

It’d be a mockery of everything that Bud stands for.

Which is why I created the “Vote for Manny” site in the first place.

A confluence of all things comical about MLB: the wacky ASG rules, PED perceptions, Manny, fan voting.

14:57.. 14:58… 14:59… time’s up!

@David

1-
“(For the record, I’m not a nut at all.  It’s obvious that I’m a crank (so were Edison and Ford) but I never lie and everything I say is abundantly substantiated.”

Comparing yourself to Edison and Ford?  Really?  More evidence that you ARE nuts!

2-
“So, what better way for MLB Inc. to drum up publicity then to once again rush off to the “steroids” well? It never runs dry, and fans genuinely love it.”

Some fans may love it, but not genuinel, and not genuine fans….  And now, hpefully, the well WILL eventually run dry…

3-
“Manny Ramirez will be an All-Star. I 100% guarantee it.”

I’ll make you a wager.  If he plays in the game, I will never post here again.  If he doesn’t PLAY, for any reason at all, YOU never post here again.  Do we have a deal, David?  Or are you chicken?

4-
“Tell the fellas running that blog that they needn’t bother: Bud Selig is already working overtime to make sure that Manny’s in St. Louis this July.”

Selig has proven that his reaction time to crises is inadequate for him to have any effect whatsoever on this situation.  He’ll wait until it’s too late to make a difference, and then plead ignorance.  See “All-Star Game 2002”.

5-
“That might not make some of my comments appropriate for a baseball site, but is worshiping the military appropriate for a baseball game?”

Paying homage to and showing respect for the PEOPLE that have made the decision (unwise though it may be) to serve their country in the military is NOT “worshipping the military”.  This is one of the more ignorant statements you have made.

6-
“Obi-Wan Kenobi is, therefore, a wacko conspiracy theorist for discovering the truth:”

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character in a friggin MOVIE, you moron!

7-
“Manny doesn’t give the NL a better chance to win.  All of his achievements are obviously the result of steroids.  Clearly.  Just look at A-Rod.  He sucks now!”

He went 5 for 5 on Monday.  I still hate him for soiling the Game, but he’s stll a great player that didn’t need to endanger his health.  And BTW, I took my son to get him a new pair of cleats the other day.  After trying on three or four pair of Nikes, he picked a pair and told the salesperson which ones.  She said “Good, I’ll wrap up the A-Rods”.  My son said, unprovoked, “Nah, I’ll take those instead”.  A VERY proud moment for me!

I hope you accept my wager and honor your end when you lose.

Richard in Dallas:  Aren’t you supposed to be hanging out with Alex Rodriguez?  If he’s busy, maybe you can chill with Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton.  (I’d be busy hanging with my boys Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, but they’re out in KC now.)

Sara K:  You’re right, the government’s great.  They never do anything malicious.  (And if they ever do, we know that nobody will ever point it out ‘cause then that person would be a WACKO!)

Now, now, David. Of course governments everywhere have done and will continue to do cold-hearted things, and people who don’t realize that are fooling themselves.  All the same, that doesn’t make true everything you say about the government. You are probably right about a lot of things, and you are probably wrong about a lot of things. The thing I find fruit-loopy about the conspiracy theorist side of my peers is the tendency toward absolutism.  Their conspiracy theories are infallible, and anyone who disagrees with them -  or even questions them - is blind. When I ask them what course of action they think we should take, they rarely have an answer. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut and wait for the conversation to turn to other things. 

And mind you, I don’t think that their fruit-loopiness reduces their value as human beings; this is my husband and a best friend I am talking about, after all. Maybe I should hook you guys up…