David Lough was brought on by the Orioles this past offseason as a “very capable replacement” for outfielder Nate McLouth heading into 2014. A replacement, yes. Capable? Questionable.
Lough has seen his batting average rise to .196 in recent days (that’s right, rise). That after hitting .286 in 96 games in Kansas City in 2013. The lefty from Akron, Ohio, has a wOBA of .264 and is contributing negatively in practically every offensive category other than base running. His defense, though, has been so spectacular that he has made up for such below average production at the plate to maintain a positive WAR in 2014. It stands at 0.3.
So when All Star voting updates were released yesterday, this list was quite the surprise:
David Lough has close to 400,000 votes for the All Star game.
400,000.
That’s good for 15th among all AL outfielders.
The Orioles, for the second straight year, are running the #VoteOrange campaign at the Yard. With this, fans can pick up boxes of ballots (1500 in each) to vote and turn them in for prizes. Those prizes include tickets, autographs, memorabilia, and even a catered suite and meet & greet with an Orioles All Star for the top voters. I have seen countless folks dragging in stacks of these completed boxes, presumably with all Oriole selections.
What Lough’s 396,085 votes tells us is that, presumably, 370,000 or so of them have come from this program. That’s taking away a few that may be coming from some adoring Royals fans. If 370,000 ballots have been submitted at Oriole Park, that suddenly needs to be seen by the rest of MLB as a huge share of the voting. That is a share with which no other single club can compete.
Fan voting has its issues (link and link and link and link). This may not necessarily be flagged as one, but the process certainly could use a second look.
It’s work noting that McLouth isn’t faring any better in the nation’s capital, either. .181/.301/.248 on a two year, $10.8 million deal.
Image Credit: Keith Allison
The whole “voting 35 times” for the All Star game is a sham, anyway. One vote for each e-mail address or vote as often as you want with the paper ballots. God bless anyone who takes the time to punch 1,500 ballots. The prize for that ought to be your own position in the game.