Let me get this straight. The Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays are teaming up to make a united push for All-Star votes for Arizona’s Ian Kennedy and Tampa’s Ben Zobrist.
↵Why?
↵I guess the whole teaming-up concept has worked in the past. But how will it work for two markets without a history of stuffing the All-Star ballot boxes (or inboxes), let alone the two towns’ low average attendance figures?
↵Apathy tends to be a problem in the Valley for the local baseball team, despite the success the D-backs have had this season. Higher attendance tends to equal more votes, no matter how aggressive the online campaign is.
↵No doubt Kennedy (8-2, 3.01 ERA) is deserving. But he’s up against three bigger names in the game, at least from a national perspective — Andre Ethier from the Dodgers, Shane Victorino from the Phillies and Todd Helton from the Rockies — in the Final Vote where one of five candidates is chosen based on fan vote this week.
↵Ethier alone will garner some votes from the Phoenix area, as a native of this town.
↵Give credit to the D-backs for at least trying something to get more attention for Kennedy. Even if the Twitter hashtag slogan “#VoteIanIn” is less catchier than “#HelpZoGo” for Zobrist.
↵You can vote for Kennedy and Zobrist at mlb.com, dbacks.com or tampabayrays.com.
↵Voting ends Thursday at noon.