MLB’s All-Star election has always been an election, through all its various structures and media formats. (Except for 1933 to 1945, when there wasn’t any voting from anyone at all, but, well, we don’t have to talk about 1933 to 1945.) For this year’s game, though, MLB has leaned further into the language of electoral politics than ever before—with a “primary” to kick things off, and, starting Wednesday, a general election to decide the starters.
To do justice to the theme, then, our ballot guide will share a handful of different party platforms. Sure, you could just vote for the “best” at each position… but voters can be famously irrational, in any context, and beyond that, even perfectly rational voters can have different priorities.