NewsWhore
07-04-2011, 01:50 PM
Dominican slugger Jose Bautista is the most voted player for the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game. The Toronto Star reported that the Blue Jays third baseman had set a record for the most votes ever cast for a single player in MLB All-Star-Game history. Bautista received a record 7,454,753 million votes that compares to 6,069,688 received by Ken Griffey Jr in 1994.
A new record of 32.5 million voters was registered this year, up from 23.5 million, the previous record set in 2009.
"That sounds amazing, my appreciation to the fans for all their support, we got it in three different territories, Canada, the US, and the Dominican Republic... I can't even describe how good that feels," Bautista said Sunday as the vote was announced, making him the AL's starting right fielder, and the game's all time highest vote getter," as reported in the Toronto Star.
A year ago, Bautista was leading the major leagues in home runs at the all-star break, but did not make the all-star team on fan voting. Debate surfaced afterwards, centering on a perceived lack of exposure for Bautista to the major fan bases in the US because he was playing in Canada.
"I don't see where that comes from, we have a whole country behind us," Bautista said of Canada. "I'm very proud to be representing Canada and the Dominican Republic."
Bautista is now leading the MLB with 27 home runs.
The other Dominicans who were voted to play in the game are Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Placido Polanco and Jose Reyes, while Adrian Beltre, Jose Valverde and Starlin Castro are on the reserves list.
The 2011 MLB All-Star Game will be televised on Tuesday 12 July at 8pm ET on Fox.
www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game (http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)
A new record of 32.5 million voters was registered this year, up from 23.5 million, the previous record set in 2009.
"That sounds amazing, my appreciation to the fans for all their support, we got it in three different territories, Canada, the US, and the Dominican Republic... I can't even describe how good that feels," Bautista said Sunday as the vote was announced, making him the AL's starting right fielder, and the game's all time highest vote getter," as reported in the Toronto Star.
A year ago, Bautista was leading the major leagues in home runs at the all-star break, but did not make the all-star team on fan voting. Debate surfaced afterwards, centering on a perceived lack of exposure for Bautista to the major fan bases in the US because he was playing in Canada.
"I don't see where that comes from, we have a whole country behind us," Bautista said of Canada. "I'm very proud to be representing Canada and the Dominican Republic."
Bautista is now leading the MLB with 27 home runs.
The other Dominicans who were voted to play in the game are Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Placido Polanco and Jose Reyes, while Adrian Beltre, Jose Valverde and Starlin Castro are on the reserves list.
The 2011 MLB All-Star Game will be televised on Tuesday 12 July at 8pm ET on Fox.
www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game (http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/1018759--grand-slam-jose-bautista-s-off-to-the-all-star-game)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)