MLB is "moving its All-Star balloting online, shelving the punch card paper ballots previously used inside stadiums," according to Scott Soshnick of BLOOMBERG NEWS. MLB President of Business & Media Bob Bowman in a memo sent to teams last week wrote that online voting accounted for more than 80% of ballots cast last season and that "more than 16 million paper ballots went unused." He wrote, "We therefore have made the decision to go green, while also saving the cost of managing an offline program." Soshnick notes all other major U.S. sports leagues "use digital balloting" for All-Star games. The NBA "went all digital" in '11. The memo said that MLB would "seek a replacement for Firestone, which had sponsored in-stadium balloting" since '10 (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/18). In Phoenix, Andrew Joseph writes the move "undeniably makes sense." The fact that 16 million ballots "were wasted proves as much." Joseph: "But I will miss the days of punching those cards" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/18). CBSSPORTS.com's David Brown wrote from a "nostalgia standpoint, some might miss the punch cards because of the tradition." If you are old enough, it is "how you grew up voting for the All-Star game because it was the only way to vote" (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/17). YAHOO SPORTS' Mike Oz wrote picking up an All-Star ballot "was a wonderful part of going to the game." Oz: "It wasn't just another thing to do while I was at the stadium, but a moment in which I felt like I was participating, a moment that brought me closer to the first sport I loved" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/17).
