Bay Area Sports Guy – Sandy Alderson isn’t a fan of Giants fan’s ASG ballot stuffing

The internet is an awesome place. Had Sandy Alderson, GM of the NY Mets, said this in the regular media, there would probably be a nice fine waiting for him when he was done speaking. However, because he said it on twitter, it is now just a very candid moment in which a GM expressed what he actually thought about the crazy way that All-Stars are selected for a game that supposedly means something.

The Guy already went over his thoughts on the Giants fan’s huge turnout at the digital ballot box, but this seems like a good opportunity to go over it again. For the longest time, the Giants punched below their weight, sending fewer guys than were actually deserving. Last year, they had the benefit of Bochy picking reserves, and now, the team put a great deal of effort in getting guys into the game via fan voting (I know I got several emails encouraging me to vote), so I am okay with being over represented for a few years.

The Giants paid their dues and now get to reap the benefits of a World Series and a first place team. I will not apologize for that. Was Pablo Sandoval more deserving than David Wright? No, he wasn’t. Was he at least in the conversation as one of the better third basemen? Yes.

The Giants better mobilized their fans to get their guys into the game. When you consider that New York has a population advantage of 22 million (compared to SF’s 7 million), the fact that the guy with the built in advantage is complaining is pretty laughable.

It would have been a travesty if Brandon Crawford or Brandon Belt made the team, but Sandoval… he is actually deserving of the nod, no matter what Alderson thinks.

10 comments

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Tru

It's always ironic to me when Giant fans complain they are ignored by the East Coast media, but they roll their eyes when Oakland teams/Sharks complain about being disrespected locally.

Sunset Boy

Sigh...(rolls eyes, ironically)

Oh, you silly SF elitist, you.

IIRC, David Wright was voted a starter at 3B in 2009, when Panda was leading the league in hitting. Then Panda was passed over by Charlie Manuel, who chose his man Jason Werth, instead. Where was Alderson's outrage, then? And its not like Wright won't be on the team, as Sandoval wasn't. Better to let people just think you're a hypocrite, instead of tweeting your opinions and confirming it, Alderson Bottom line, if you have a problem with the wrong guy starting in the All Star Game, don't blame the Giants fans for being more enthusiastic and effective -- blame the system itself. So sweet when the NY/Northeast gets a taste of its own medicine. Beautiful.

It's clear that Sandy's feelings are very misplaced. The whole voting system is obviously flawed. Being upset about fans taking advantage of a flawed system is like leaving the cookie jar open and then bitching about people taking cookies. Ii guess it's easier and far less likely to be fined to harp on some fans rather than to call out the people actually responsible. Tell Sandy to grow a pair and call out Selig, not fans.

devnull

Exactly right. Though the odds of any GM or owner calling out Bud for anything at this point are probably pretty slim -- they already re-upped Bud's contract, so the League is apparently fine with the near-glacial pace of Bud's decisions and operations. No Man of Action, the Commissioner.

Scott Pon

Remember when Canseco was voted to the All Star game and he was out the entire 1st half. That was under Alderson's watch too.

Stan

You hit on all the salient points. Alderson's sour grapes are just that. Plus,the Mets stink.

I would not have had a problem with Belt or Crawford making it either. Lets be consistent the voting is not dependent on stats. Not HRs. Not RBIs. None of that. Its about who got the most votes, period. If Sandy Alderson doesn't like the voting, then have the system changed. Unlike me, he has actual power.