PITTSBURGH -- It's a mystery that defies logic, and may never be solved.

	Rios

Even Armando Rios is having a hard time believing it. Rios, hitting .257 with nine RBI for the Pirates this season, is currently sixth in the All-Star voting for National League outfielders with 184,000 votes. The All-Star Game will be played in Milwaukee on July 9.

The top three vote-getters will get the start for the NL, with the reserves to be selected by Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly.

Rios trails only Barry Bonds (472,337), Sammy Sosa (410,880), Vladimir Guerrero (307,432), Lance Berkman (246,957) and Moises Alou (225,212) in the voting. Rios is ahead of such players as Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and Jim Edmonds, just to name a few.

Rios, currently on the DL with a knee injury, says he is embarrassed by the whole thing.

"It's amazing, isn't it?," Rios told the Beaver County (Pa.) Times. "Actually, I'm a little embarrassed by it. I don't know why it's happening. I have no idea. In fact, I didn't even know about it until my wife saw it in the newspaper. It's crazy. I'm flattered by it but I can't explain it. I'd like to know."

Rios offered one light-hearted theory, with the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S. presidential election in mind.

"Maybe it's like the Broward County (Fla.) election," Rios, a Florida native, told the newspaper. "Maybe the space to punch my name is lined up wrong and the votes that are going to me should be going to Barry (Bonds) or Sammy Sosa."

On the ballot, Rios' name is directly above that of Sosa. However, it is nowhere near Bonds.

MLB senior director of media relations Pat Courtney told the Times that he found no improprieties in the voting. He said the company which has tabulated the ballots for 15 years has investigated Rios' totals and found nothing wrong.

"They haven't found it to be a case of ballot box stuffing or anything of that nature," Courtney told The Times. "We've been trying to figure it out but I guess maybe it's just an unsolved mystery."

Maybe the fans really are making a push for Rios?

"I've always prided myself open having a good relationship with the fans ever since I came up to the big leagues," Rios told the newspaper. "I always go out of my way to make time for the fans. I like to go out and sign autographs and talk to the fans before games. "When I'm playing in the outfield, I'm always playing around with the fans between pitches. I'll be waving to them, blowing kisses, talking to them. If they boo me, I'll put my hand up to my ear like I can't hear them. "That's the only thing I can think of, that maybe a lot of people around the league have gotten to know me and appreciate the way I play."

But, Rios is realistic.

"I don't think I'm THAT popular," Rios told the Times.

Perhaps Rios' looks have persuaded women to get out the vote. "They said on ESPN that I was getting votes because I had the Latin heat," Rios told the Times with a smile. "Maybe I'll have to start waxing my eyebrows."