Big Islanders have work to do if they want to see one of their own start in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ Kolten Wong was second among second basemen in National League balloting released Wednesday, but the 2008 Kamehameha graduate trailed the front-runner, the Miami Marlins’ Dee Gordon, by more than 350,000 votes.
In his first at-bat after the first wave of voting was made public, Wong cracked his sixth home run of the season against Arizona. He began the day hitting .320, eighth-best in the NL.
The Cardinals have gained plenty of support – outfielder Matt Holiday, catcher Yadier Molina, third baseman Matt Carpenter and shortstop Jhonny Peralta were all among the leaders – but fans also recognized Gordon for his torrid start. He began the day hitting a NL-leading .368 and his 18 stolen bases were tops in the majors. Gordon garnered 934,249 votes, Wong had 582,238 and the Dodgers’ Howie Kendrick was far back in third at 385,427.
This is the first year that voting, which started in late April, is being conducted exclusively online at MLB.com or any team site, through July 2. According to an MLB release, fans can submit up to 35 ballots, which they also can receive by texting VOTE to 89269.
The 86th All-Star Game will be held July 14 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Of course, even if Wong doesn’t catch up in the voting, he could still make the trip as a reserve.
After the fans pick the eight NL starters, pitchers and reserves will be selected by a combination of player picks and choices made by San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy, who guided the Giants a World Series victory last season. The 34th and final roster spot, will be determined by a fan vote from a list of five players.
