Dodgers fans finally show up at the polls to push Justin Turner to lead in All-Star voting
Who knew? The voters were here. They just had to be nudged â€" or, in this particular case, insulted by the team’s closer.
Justin Turner is now on the verge of being on his first All-Star team. With a day remaining in the Final Vote, the ginger-bearded Dodgers third baseman was leading the online poll to determine the last spot on the National League roster. The competition ends Thursday at 1 p.m.
Of course, it shouldn’t have come to this.
In a market the size of Los Angeles, Turner should have been voted in as a starter. With the support of a passionate fan base, there’s no reason Turner s hould be waiting to finalize his plans for next week.
Yes, this is another column about the Dodgers’ region-wide television blackout. The Dodgers would argue my colleagues and I are taking turns beating a dead horse in these pages, but the reality is inescapable.
Turner’s potential election is only the latest example of the damage inflicted by the Dodgers’ lucrative but ultimately short-sighted television deal.
If the fans’ spirited backing of Turner is evidence of Los Angeles’ potential as a baseball town â€" “Overwhelming,†was how Turner described the support â€" his place on the Final Vote ballot is a cruel reminder of how that promise remains an abstraction because a majority of the market can’t watch the Dodgers regularly.
It’s true the Dodgers had trouble placing their players in All-Star starting lineups before they entered their current TV agreement. The Dodgers didn’t have a single elected starter from 1998 to 2004. Only six times since then have they had a player voted into the NL lineup â€" and twice it was Matt Kemp.
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