Barry Bonds is an all-star. He got voted into the NL’s starting lineup, beating out Alfonso Soriano in the sketchiest election since Bush beat Gore.

Frankly, I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how millions of Americans could vote for a guy who is the poster child for all that is wrong with baseball. And I’m not the only one scratching his head. SI’s John Donovan sums up the bizarreness of the situation today:

What’s strange, though, is that a lot of different polls — ESPN/ABC, CBS News, USA Today, the Associated Press, CNN and many others — have indicated that most fans don’t believe Bonds when he claims he’s never used performance-enhancers. A good chunk of fans, the polls say, don’t want him to break Hank Aaron’s career home run record. (He’s now only five away from tying it.) When he finally pushes past Aaron’s mark, many fans told the pollsters that they won’t consider it a genuine record. Many polls show that fans, simply put, just don’t like the guy.

So either those polls are way off, or the ballot boxes were stuffed, or fans changed their minds, or they simply don’t care about any of that stuff anymore, or they don’t think any of that should apply to an All-Star Game, or they don’t think any of it should apply to this particular All-Star Game, or … something.

Amen, John. Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. And Barry Bonds fans are from a whole ‘nother galaxy. It’s enough to make you think the whole thing was fixed. And, frankly, I do.

Except, I can’t figure out why MLB would rig this election. It won’t solve anything. Bonds will be the biggest story at the all-star game — wether he plays or not. He’ll either be on the verge of breaking Aaron’s record, or he’ll have recently broken it. He’ll be playing in his hometown. Or not playing. Regardless, he’ll dominate the news.

So taking the decision to put Bonds in the game or keep him on the sidelines out of Tony LaRussa’s hands won’t solve any of baseball’s problems. But it makes me feel better to think that MLB rigged this election. Because I’d rather believe that Bud Selig is corrupt and clueless — not a giant stretch — than think that America actually wants to honor Barry Bonds.

UPDATE: I’m not the only one who thinks this voting was fixed. The FANHOUSE thinks so, too. 

All-Star Game fan voting is coming to a close. Tomorrow is the last day ballots will be counted. And the question on everyone’s minds is, should Barry Bonds be an all-star?

Pretty much everybody thinks so. Except, you know, a majority of the fans.

Take a look at what the media and some former players are saying:

Cal Ripken, Jr.: Yes, there’s a shadow that’s hanging over top of him. The commissioner and Hank Aaron are torn whether they should celebrate the breaking of the all-time home run record. But when I think of Barry, I think of him as an all-star player.

• Tony Gwynn: There has to be one guy from each team, and there’s no question, I think, he’s having the best year on that team.
• John Ames, Arizona Daily Star: The All-Star Game is a popularity contest, and Bonds is the game’s biggest draw. People love Bonds. Most love to boo him…. The All-Star Game this year will be played in Bonds’ home park. His biggest fans should not be denied a chance to see him there.
• Gene Wojciechowski: MLB rules say that each team has to have at least one All-Star representative. The Giants, who will finish dead last in the NL West, need somebody, so that somebody ought to be Mr. Martyr instead of the other two San Francisco candidates: catcher Bengie Molina and pitcher Matt Morris.

I understand where these pro-Bonds guys are coming from. It makes sense that as long as Bonds is allowed to play in regular season games, he should be allowed to play in the All-Star game. And it makes sense that as long as Bonds is the best player on the Giants, he should represent the team at the All-Star game.

But I can’t help it. Every time MLB heaps one more honor on Barry, I get a little sick to my stomach. The guy should have been banned long ago. Now, not only do we have to endure his pursuit of Hank Aaron’s home run record, but we have to give him a place at the All-Star game?