At the time this ballot came out I was nine years old. I might have done one of these ballots during a Phoenix Giants game that year. I have no idea who I voted for, but I'll see if I can "recreate" my ballot here.
National League
C Johnny Bench
1B Tony Perez
2B Joe Morgan
SS Dave Concepcion
3B Pete Rose
OF Greg Luzinski, Bobby Murcer, Ken Griffey
I was a huge Reds fan during this time. I'm pretty sure my ballot would have been dominated by Reds. I would have voted for Luzinski over George Foster because Foster still wasn't a "proven" commodity in the spring/summer of '76. That soon would change. I also had a Slurpee cup with Greg Luzinski on it, so I figured that he must be a great player. I probably would have voted for either Murcer or Gary Matthews as the token Giant.
American League
C Carlton Fisk
1B Rod Carew
2B Denny Doyle
SS Robin Yount
3B Brooks Robinson
OF Reggie Jackson, Fred Lynn, Rick Manning
I didn't know much about the American League. I would have voted for Fisk, Doyle, and Lynn based on what I knew about them from the 1975 World Series. Rick Manning would have gotten my vote based on the cover photo on the then-current (June 1976) issue of Baseball Digest. Reggie would have been the third OF based on his fame. Robin Yount would have gotten my vote based on the fact that the Brewers trained in Sun City, AZ at the time and I got to see a lot of spring training games during that time. I would have voted for Brooks Robinson because he was in a game that I played all the time called Superstar Baseball. First base would have been the toughest call for me. Carl Yastrzemski was the more famous 1B based on the '75 World Series, but Rod Carew was one of my favorite players. I would have voted for Carew wishing that he was on the ballot at 2B instead.
How would you have voted?
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