This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on June 12, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

There are a lot of things in life not worth getting too upset over. Parking tickets, rainy days, traffic jams, long lines, etc. Work yourself into a frenzy over these things and you'll be on a one-way trip to Ulcer City before long.

Yet, far more insignificant than anything I listed above, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game voting just works me into a fury sometimes.

That's right. I save my anger for the important stuff.

The fan balloting is ongoing, and while the fans usually get about 70 percent of their picks right, it's the votes that take all the thought of "Oh, I've heard of him" that drive me absolutely batty.

Taking a glance at the ballot, and certain picks seem pretty set. In the American League, Jason Varitek at catcher, Brian Roberts at second base and the ever-amazing Ichiro Suzuki in the outfield are perfect. The National League pick of Albert Pujols at first base is great, too, even if Derrek Lee is having a monster season. Each one of those players absolutely belongs in the starting lineup in Detroit next month.

Some are questionable. Mike Piazza leads all NL catchers with a so-so season of six home runs, 28 RBIs and a .254 batting average. But compare that with San Diego's Ramon Hernandez (6-31-.283), who isn't even in the top five in voting.

The same argument could be made for Manny Ramirez, in first place among AL outfielders while Johnny Damon sits out of the money in fourth; or for Houston's Morgan Ensberg, deserving at 13-33-.285 but out of the top five while Scott Rolen, who's been on the disabled list for more than a month, sits in first.

Then there are some asinine picks. Nomar Garciaparra -- he of 14 games played with a .157 average -- is sitting pretty in first place. It's not his fault, obviously, but the fans have to know better than to vote for a guy who probably won't play again this season. David Eckstein, Cesar Izturis and the recently injured Clint Barmes would all be far more worthy of getting the starting nod. While Nomar will probably lose his slim lead over Eckstein before voting ends, he still shouldn't be anywhere near the top.

There are other voting mishaps that are particularly glaring -- the fact that Kevin Millar is second among AL first basemen or that Ken Griffey Jr. is third among NL outfielders despite the fact Cliff Floyd, Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, Milton Bradley, Jason Bay, Carlos Lee and Pat Burrell are all having far better seasons.

Among that group, Cabrera is ranked fifth, Abreu sixth and Floyd seventh, while Jason Bay and Carlos Lee have yet to crack the top 15.

Should voting fans know better? Probably.

Is this nitpicking? Absolutely.

And are fans completely to blame? Of course not. Managers make terrible picks, too. Cito Gaston, remember, made Scott Cooper an All-Star -- twice.

It's far from a perfect system, and a ballot that takes fan voting into consideration rather than having it as the end-all, be-all would be better. But that's not happening anytime soon.

In the meantime, the average fan will continue to cast votes, and All-Star teams and games will be picked, played and forgotten.

All the while, I'll likely continue to yell at the rain, curse traffic gridlock and argue that John Valentin should've made the 1995 All-Star squad over Gary DiSarcina.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at ntavares@s-t.com.

This story appeared on Page E1 of The Standard-Times on June 12, 2005.