No one can argue that Shane Victorino does not have a flair for the dramatic.

The Phillies center-fielder finds himself at the center of the fan voting frenzy to determine the last spot on the National League All-Star team, which is being done by Internet voting.

Last night Victorino put an exclamation point on the campaign with a dramatic, two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Pedro Feliz and power the Phils to a 3-2 win over the Reds.

Good for Victorino. You can certainly make the argument that he deserves a spot on the All-Star team.

But am I the only one who finds this entire “Vote for Shane” push just a tad unseemly?

Maybe I’m old-fashioned. To be honest, I’m not even all that thrilled about fan voting in the first place. I think it too often devolves into a popularity contest, or on a player’s reputation or what he did last year, as opposed to selecting the players who have had the best numbers this season. How else do you explain the number of votes Jimmy Rollins got this year? Anyone want to argue that he’s having an All-Star first half, despite what he’s done the last few days?

But the lengths to which the push behind the effort to get Victorino on this team has gone from over the top, to a spot in the gutter.

The team is in on it. They have fans sitting in the press box literally punching their votes into a computer non-stop. Some local radio stations have jumped on the bandwagon. The team has taken out ads to urge the fans to get on board. Even Mayor Nutter and Gov. Ed Rendell have gotten into the act.

The voting ends at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

I hope Victorino makes it. Right now he’s still trailing Giants’ third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Victorino actually surged to a slight lead Tuesday night before Sandoval fans rallied during the day Wednesday.
Sandoval is now up by about 2 percentage points.

Let the best man win. Unfortunately, that has little to do with the way this vote is being conducted.