Wong Receives Over 582K MLB All-Star Votes

Hilo native Kolten Wong is among the top second baseman in National League All-Star voting.

Major League Baseball released its first NL voting tally on Wednesday. Wong received 582,238 votes at second base, well behind Miami’s Dee Gordon, who picked up 934,249 votes from fans.

Players who get the highest amount of votes at each position at the end of All-Star balloting earn a starting spot in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, held Tuesday, July 15 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio. Even if Wong doesn’t lead voting among players at his position, he could still get in if the manager of the NL All-Star squad selects him.

Wong helped his case Wednesday in a home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hitting leadoff, Wong clobbered the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning over the fence in right center field. It was his first career leadoff home run, which measured 372 feet in distance. For the St. Louis Cardinals’ second baseman, it was his sixth home run of the season.

There’s a decent gap between Wong and the next three second baseman in voting. Los Angeles’ Howie Kendrick picked up 385,427 votes, followed by Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips (337,146) and San Francisco’s Joe Panik (333,853).

The MLB All-Star Game will be televised by local FOX affiliate KHON2 and broadcast on radio on ESPN Radio’s 850 AM (Hilo) and 790 AM (Kona).