SAIPAN for years have had a Saipan Little to Big League All Star Team that would proudly represent our island in off island competitions such as the Far East tournament and the World Series. This all star team is composed of the young boys who played in the regular league season. At the end of the regular season the statistics of the players are tallied and the selection process begins.
This was how things were done: A meeting is set up for all coaches and managers to attend and a voting process for each player for all the different positions is thrown up for discussion and nomination. A coach or manager will nominate a player and the other coaches and managers will review his statistics and discuss the player’s advantages both defensively and offensively of being a member of the team. A vote is taken and if majority votes him in, that player is selected to the All Star team.
I have always felt this was due process for a selection of the team that would represent our island.
This year, a meeting for the All Star team was held and what a shocking outcome. I was shocked at the list that was published in Marianas Variety on June 18. The fact is the players chosen were definitely not chosen because of their performance, skills and talents but chosen because of what? It seems that baseball is getting in this business of not how good you play but who you know. Was this a fair selection to the boys and girls who played with the heart and devotion to compete and do their best so they would be selected to the All Star team?
As we viewed the list, I realized that many players were cheated. I am a parent who watched almost all the regular season games of not only the team of my son but all the other teams as well, and I know that a majority of the players that were selected were just plainly selected for personal benefits.
I have been complimented throughout the season on my son’s performance and have also been told that he would make it as an All Star player due to his performance and devotion in the position he played by fans, managers, coaches as well as the officials themselves, and now I find out that he was not chosen.
I, too, vouched for my son’s performance this past season and I appealed the decision that he was not chosen. Publish the stats for each player of every team on Marianas Variety and it will prove why we are questioning the players chosen. I feel that if a voting system was done just like the past years, many players on the list this year would not be there.
Come on, let’s all be fair and do things the right way—the way it has always been done. The selection of this year’s team is really in question due to past experiences and process not being followed. If this is how they will do it, then what’s the need for statistics for regular season baseball league?
Whoever voted on this year’s All Star list are cheating on young children just for the benefit of a free trip. It is an embarrassment to do this to children especially the ones who played hard and placed well with regards to the statistics and no doubt deserve to be a member of the All Star team. Everyone involved with this selection know why many people not only myself are unsatisfied with this year’s All Star team.
MEL B. CONCEPCION and SAM C. SALAS
Capitol Hill, Saipan
