OK, baseball fans, you can rest your thumbs now. After a week of texting, tweeting and online voting, the MLB Final Vote is finished and the final two spots on the AL and NL All-Star teams belong to Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals and Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Yep, Missouri wins again.
The Final Vote ended with a flurry of emoji votes on Friday and now Moustakas and Martinez will take their spots in Cincinnati for the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday. All told, a record 111.8 million votes were cast in the All-Star runoff. Moustakas received 19.3 million while Martinez got 14.1 million.
Both players are deserving of the All-Star nod, particularly Martinez, who has been one of the best starting pitchers in the National League this season. His 2.52 ERA ranks seventh in the NL and his record of 10-3 makes him one of only six players in MLB with six or more wins. No doubt, he got a boost from Missouri voters, as the Cardinals and Royals formed an alliance to support Martinez and Moustakas.
As for Moustakas, he started the season on a torrid streak but has cooled down somewhat. He's hitting .301 with seven homers and 31 RBIs. Moustakas led the popular vote at third base in the AL for much of the voting, but was passed by Josh Donaldson in the final weeks. This means another Royal in the All-Star game. They're back up to six, since outfielder starter Alex Gordon was lost because of injury.
Here's how the final tally of voting in both leagues:
• NL: Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati Reds), Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies) and Jeurys Familia (New York Mets)
• AL: Brian Dozier (Minnesota Twins), Yoenis Cespedes (Detroit Tigers ) and Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox). Note: Brett Gardner was originally a Final Vote contestant, but was named to the team after Gordon's injury.
Hats off to Missouri baseball fans, they sure supported their players this All-Star season.
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