By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 07/08/99

MINNEAPOLIS - Cleveland outfielder David Justice has been in this position before, sitting back in a clubhouse chair waxing semi-philosophical about All-Star voting. In this state where a bald-headed former athlete serves as governor, the similarly shaved Justice sounds as if he's on the campaign trail. He wants to bring the vote not just to the people, but also to the players. He talks about reform. He wonders if a balloting system so entrenched can be changed.

''You've got players that have been voted in that have not deserved to be there every year, but that's just the way baseball is,'' said Justice. ''That's just the way the system is. If you want to change the system, then change the system. Every year somebody comes around and asks about players who won't make it and players who are unhappy. At what point are people going to say, `Let's do something about the problem.'''

Added shortstop Omar Vizquel: ''I don't want to mention any names, but you can see that some players deserve more votes than others and some don't deserve as many as they get. It's like a popularity contest more than what you do in the season.''

Considering the Indians were the main beneficiaries of a voting system that lets fans decide who will start the All-Star Game, Justice and Vizquel take an interesting stand. Then again in the Cleveland clubhouse, look a few locker stalls away and you can see the skewed effects of the current voting system.

The Indians dominated the popular vote the way they have dominated their opponents this season, finishing with four starters and placing at least one player among the top three in every position. Yesterday, American League manager Joe Torre named Vizquel a reserve, while pitcher Charles Nagy was chosen to replace the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, who will take care of personal business during the break. The additions bring Cleveland's All-Star total to six, equaling the second greatest number of players the Tribe has sent to the midsummer classic. On four occasions (1943, 1955, 1995, 1998), six Indians represented the AL. In 1952, Cleveland had seven All-Stars.

If Vizquel hadn't dropped in the final count, an Indians player would have been either first or second in all seven categories. Justice finished fourth in the outfield balloting, behind top vote-getter Ken Griffey and Indians teammates Manny Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. Besides Ramirez and Lofton, Cleveland's Jim Thome (first base) and Roberto Alomar (second base) will take the field for the American League in the first inning Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

''Fans understand the game and they know who they want to see out there and they pretty much vote that way,'' said Lofton.

Yet, the power of the Cleveland vote displaced deserving players and angered others. Thome's victory of 679,801 votes over Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro raised more than a few eyebrows as Palmeiro has better statistics across the board. Palmeiro is batting.351 with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs, while Thome lags behind at .276 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs. The oft-injured Travis Fryman's second-place finish among third basemen also is dubious. Fryman's numbers (.259, 8 HRs, 42 RBIs) pale when compared with those of Toronto's Tony Fernandez (.379, 5 HRs, 57 RBIs).

And three Indians outfielders finishing among the top four? Texas right fielder and reigning AL MVP Juan Gonzalez was so incensed by the balloting that he made it known he did not want to take part in the All-Star Game as a reserve. Consequently, the outfielder, whose statistics (.318, 23 home runs, 77 RBIs) rank up there with Griffey and Ramirez and far exceed the 1999 accomplishments of Justice and Lofton, will stay home. He placed a distant fifth in the voting.

The most logical explanation for Cleveland's voting influence lies with its league-leading attendance and the zealous efforts of Tribe fans. The people of Cuyahoga County have become a popular SportsCenter punch line in recent days. And they have sold out a major league-record 337 consecutive games. For the last four years, the Indians have sold out the entire season before Opening Day. Cleveland averages 42,543 fans per home game at Jacobs Field, the highest mark in the American League. Owning the best record in baseball and sitting atop the Central Division doesn't hurt either.

The fans' enthusiasm is matched only by constant Cleveland campaigning. When balloting in Cleveland began May 11, the Indians held a pregame ceremony to get fans involved. Team mascot Slider punched out a super-size All-Star ballot, casting all his votes for Cleveland players. Every night during the voting period, which ended June 26, the Jacobs Field public address announcer exhorted fans to vote for their favorite Indians as the ballpark Jumbotron flashed the names of prospective All-Stars on the home team. Cleveland also used the big screen to inform spectators where they could vote - on the Internet, at games, and at seven team shops in the Cleveland area. Ushers, called ''hosts and greeters'' in Cleveland, handed out ample stacks of ballots during homestands.

Gonzalez argued that the disproportionate number of home games each team plays is a major factor. The Rangers played just 22 home games in May and June (only the A's, with 20, had fewer), while Boston had 33 and Cleveland 32 in that span. Additionally, in mid-June, the Indians played three-game series in nearby Cincinnati and Toronto, which drew large numbers of Cleveland fans, many of whom probably couldn't get tickets to sold-out home games.

''I attribute it to the fact that they're all good players and people around the country voted for them,'' said Indians manager Mike Hargrove of his team's All-Star dominance. ''I don't buy into the fact that I've heard people whispering that Indian fans are stuffing the ballot boxes. They're good players. They deserve to be on the team and they're on the team. That's the way the system was designed and that's how it's played out. I think the system is as fair as you can get.

''I think the players that got voted on the team deserve to be on the team. Then there are guys like Omar Vizquel, who's hitting [.330] and catching everything in sight. You've got David Justice, who has [16] home runs and [61] RBIs. I don't see any of them getting in because fans stuffed the ballot box or getting a high vote total because of that. Certainly, more people voted for these guys than just the people in Cleveland.''

But the Cleveland factor does recall other All-Star voting oddities. In 1957, folks in Cincinnati took ballot-box stuffing to the extreme. Reds fans voted almost exclusively for their players, disregarding such stars as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and giving their local heroes the top spots at seven of eight positions. Commissioner Ford Frick straightened out the matter, replacing Cincinnati players Gus Bell and Wally Post with Mays and Aaron, and took the vote away from the fans. The fan balloting was restored in 1970.

A decade ago, the Phillies' Mike Schmidt was voted to start at third base despite the fact that he had retired in May. In 1991, Indians catcher Sandy Alomar, who was hurt early in the season and wound up missing 111 games, was voted a starter. This season, despite being limited to 82 at-bats after undergoing knee surgery May 21, Alomar finished second among AL catchers.

Injuries aside, the players often hurt most by indiscriminate fan voting are those left to contend for reserve positions. Hargrove knows this well. Last season, he selected the Yankees' Derek Jeter and Vizquel as reserves at shortstop behind starter Alex Rodriguez, leaving the Red Sox' Nomar Garciaparra as odd man out.

''I went through and picked everybody I thought deserved to be on it and then went back through and repicked and started eliminating people,'' said Hargrove, noting that each team must have at least one representative. ''I probably had 45 different lists at one time or another.''

When Hargrove was asked if there was a time he felt particularly bad about not naming a player, the Indians manager had a one-word answer.

''Garciaparra,'' he said.

Candidate Justice has a solution. He suggests expanding the roster and taking all the players considered All-Star caliber. Even then, the debate about which players merit selection probably would continue. And there would still be sentimental favorites - and quite a few Indians - in the mix.

This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 07/08/99.