I guess I should be more up in Panda arms over David Wright not starting the All-Star Game despite his being not just a better all-around third baseman but probably a better cuddly zoo animal than Pablo Sandoval, yet given the system that produced this silly result, it’s funnier than it is an outrage. David Wright is all-world in 2012 (.355/.449/.564) and a candidate for both MVP and Comeback Player of the Year (if Johan Santana doesn’t win the latter and R.A. Dickey capture the former). Pablo Sandoval is all-nickname and has a momentarily rabid fan base behind him, one that likes hitting “send” a lot. Sure you could get outraged, but why anger at something so clearly farcical? David will show up, be the great team man he always is, enter the game when he is needed and probably get a couple of hits to secure the Mets home-field advantage in the World Series.
Congratulations to the National League for knowing enough to notice it has one of the best third basemen of the past quarter-century in its midst and tap him as a reserve. And same regarding R.A., who should not start the game only if he takes a vow of solidarity to sit with David for a couple of innings. Would have been nice if Johan could be there, but the pitching staff is crowded and he could always use his rest.
Parochial view, but it also has the benefit of truth to it.
The reason I can’t find myself getting even the slightest bit excited about hosting next year’s All Star Game is that it’s a meaningless event. People throw the term “popularity contest” around a lot when pointing this out, but face it, David Wright is popular and a lot more people live in the NYC area than do in SF. The issue here is that the vote is just so prone to manipulation like this so that the starting lineup is no more likely to be the best player at every position than an hour of listening to the radio is likely to result in hearing all of your favorite songs. It’s almost a random group of players, the results driven by whatever group of fans is most determined to stuff the ballot box. Face it, last year if Met fans wanted to really throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing, we could have made Brad Emaus the starting 2nd baseman, and I don’t even know where he was playing at the time (I remember when only good players made the ballot, not every team’s presumptive starter at each position as frozen in time in March).
Obviously, it’s very easy to say that the reaction of Met fans to this is sour grapes, the game is just an exhibition and belongs to the fans. OK fine. But then get rid of this stupid World Series home field advantage thing…was alternating home field each year between the two leagues as it was done for decades causing some sort of problem?
And to prove that this isn’t just about Wright’s snub…Rafael Furcal is the best SS in the league? Really? I lose track of what team this guy plays for.
Not a big fan of the All-Star pabulum to begin with, but at least the fans in Cincy for the 1957 farce showed up to the games in person, picked up the ballots, and manually punched out their choices. This reeks of some kind of geek hacking the vote—the last-minute swing of votes for Sandoval is too radical. Can’t believe MLB is too happy about this, as I believe Sandoval’s cutesiness quota has been diminished by sexual-assault charges. Wouldn’t be suprised if they review this, albeit with Selig in charge, who knows.
It wasn’t a geek hacking the vote. It was the Giants themselves providing a way for their fans to spam the vote.
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120626&content_id=33971658¬ebook_id=33987398&vkey=notebook_sf&c_id=sf
I hit submit too soon. Sorry.
Just wanted to add that the Giants behavior may well be within the regulations, but it’s a complete violation of the spirit of the rules.
Sabian bragging about it is nauseating.
Believe it or not, there’s a guy with Giants named Srabian who’s not the GM but social media guy. Met him briefly and he’s committed to his job — but that is bush stuff.
I know we’re supposed to be too cool and sophisticated to care, but this pissed me off. Fat stupid schlub.
At least the Giants admitted that they haxxored the vote, and now David can breathe easier, knowing that Met fan apathy had nothing to do with it. Two million votes for Sandoval in one day?!?! How is that even legal?
If it is, then I can just imagine scenarios taking place where NL fans stuff the boxes in favor of the biggest AL scrubs, and vice versa. Justin Smoak starting at 1B? Let’s make it happen!
Hopefully TLR will do the right thing and make The David the starting DH.
Oh, well, only one thing left to do now: shut the Giants out of the playoffs. Hee.
I’ve done my small part in this regard by voting for the most awful AL lineup I could come up with every year since I was a kid.
OK, I admit by now to obsessing about this a wee bit too much, but Wright’s snub was the result of what almost turned into an All-Giants Game. Their 1Bman and SS, neither of whom I can really say I’ve ever heard of and whose output must make some knowledgable SF fans wonder why they’re even in the Giants’ starting lineup, both finished second in the voting at their respective positions. And thanks to Giants’ fans love of the game, Freddy Sanchez, who hasn’t played in a game for over a year but was penciled in as this year’s 2Bman in the city by the bay, finished 4th, despite the fact that 13 months without playing might officially make him a former baseball player.
If you’re a fan of delicious irony, you hope that the Giants make the Series this year but lose in 7 games, as the home-field advantage of their opponents – won by the AL All-Star team against a weakened NL team – was too much for the Giants to overcome.
[...] Most relevantly, he became the most obvious star of a stellar ninth — let Pablo Sandoval be a starter in Kansas City; David Wright is a Finisher wherever he goes — when his looper fell in front of the easily [...]