New York Mets' GM Sandy Alderson remains an A at heart. An Oakland A, that is, having worked for the A's as GM and president once upon a time. Apparently still annoyed by the team playing on the other side of the San Francisco Bay, Alderson ripped San Francisco Giants fans Tuesday via Twitter for stuffing the All-Star Game ballot box for Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval.
Despite playing about half as much in the first half because of injury, Sandoval beat out Mets slugger David Wright for the starting spot at third base for the NL. Sandoval's averages are strong — his 136 adjusted OPS is fine — but he's played in only 45 games coming into Tuesday. Wright is having the best season of his career, batting .354/.447/.560 with nine homers and 26 doubles despite playing his home games at Citi Field, which is oppressive to hitting.
Never mind all that, Alderson said. Giants fans presumably have other things on their collective mind:
ASG election of "Kung Fu Panda" shows the value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn't elect a "ball dude" to start at 3B.
— Sandy Alderson (@MetsGM) July 3, 2012
(The Giants refer to the older men who perform the duties of ball boys at AT&T Park as "ball dudes.") Alderson's sentiment comes a couple of days after he noted that "Wright vs.Sandoval: A city of 8 million was outvoted by a city of 800,000" — which could be interpreted as disappointment in Mets attendance, or in Mets fans. So this hater-ade for Giants fans, who also voted catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Melky Cabrera into the NL starting lineup at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, could be part of an about-face in the public relations department.
Ah, these little dust-ups over supposed "All-Star" snubs are fun.
Alderson, while showing he's got the backs of appreciate Mets fans along with Wright, doesn't really have much of an argument. This is how we determine the All-Star teams, for better or worse, and everyone knows it. Rather than ripping other fans (or complaining about his own), he should take stock in knowing that the Giants simply did a better job of motivating their fans to use the system to their advantage. The Mets must have failed, because Wright isn't starting a game he "should." Pretty amazing, as Alderson said himself, given the population difference between San Francisco and New York.
But Alderson has to admit: Panda, Buster and Melky are quirky ways to address somebody.
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