Major League Baseball all-star voting is underway online

Major League Baseball’s 82nd Annual All-Star Game will be played on Tues., July 12, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz. and you can now cast your ballot for your favorite players online.

Just type the following link into your Web browser and vote away: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2011/ballot.jsp.

You’ll be asked to selected a first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, catcher and three outfielders from both the American and National Leagues and you can vote up to 25 times before midnight on June 30. From American League players, you’ll also be asked to select a designated hitter.

Eight pitchers, that is, five starters and three relievers, and one back-up player for each position are elected for the game by players, coaches, and managers.

All this makes me think of an interesting “What If?” question: What if you could pick one team consisting of the best players from both the American and National Leagues.

If that were possible, here are the current major leaguers I’d pick for the team – Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers, first base; Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers, second base; Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies, shortstop; Placido Polanco, Philadelphia Phillies, third base; Russell Martin, New York Yankees, catcher; Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals, left field; Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers, center field; Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays, right field; and Michael Young, Texas Rangers, designated hitter.

For my starting pitchers, I’d pick Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels; Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins; Roy Halladay, Philadelphia; Dan Haren, Los Angeles Angels; and James Shields, Tampa Bay Devil Rays. My three relief pitchers would be Johnny Venters, Atlanta Braves; Mike Adams, San Diego Padres; and Drew Storen, Washington Nationals.

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Speaking of baseball, Wednesday of last week’s edition of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! posed the following question, “Only two Major League Baseball players have hit home runs during their first two times at bat in the World Series – Who was the first?”

The following day, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” let readers know that it was Gene Tenace, who in 1972 became the first player to hit home runs in his first two times at bat in a Major League Baseball World Series.”

Tenace, 64, of Russellton, Pa. hit home runs in his first two at bats during Game One of the 1972 World Series as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics, driving all three of Oakland’s runs in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Oakland won the World Series, four games to three, and Tenace was named the World Series MVP.

What last Thursday’s “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” doesn’t tell you is the name of the second player to match Tenace’s home run-hitting performance.

As it turns out, it was former Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones, who now plays for the New York Yankees. So far, he is the only other player to have hit back-to-back home runs in his first two World Series at bats. He did so as a 19-year-old Atlanta Braves rookie when he blasted home runs in his first two at bats against the Yankees in the 1996 World Series.