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WASHINGTONNew York Mets GM Sandy Alderson is tweaked in a major way that the Giants Pablo Sandoval will start at third base for the National League All-Star squad.
Sandoval, along with catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Melky Cabrera, rode a surge of votes from Giants fans to be elected a starter. Sandovals election came as the biggest shock, since he missed 40 games with a broken hand and Mets third baseman David Wright has led the NL in hitting most of the season.
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RELATED: Giants fans rock the vote, elect three All-Star starters
Alderson took to his Twitter account, which he hadnt used since posting a photo of his dog in April:
Wright vs.Sandoval: A city of 8 million was outvoted by a city of 800,000. Sandy Alderson (@MetsGM) July 2, 2012
Alderson wasnt done there.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
Although almost no one would argue that Sandoval is more worthy of the start than Wright, its another thing for a high-ranking official to vent publicly about it. Alderson was the longtime GM in Oakland, so perhaps hes got some longstanding Giant-related issues that hes working through as well.
The pro-Giant surge in the final week of online voting might have been ridiculous (Freddy Sanchez, who hasnt played all season, finished fourth among second basemen with nearly 3 million votes), but MLB Commissioner Bud Selig didnt see anything wrong with it.
San Francisco Giants
They are sold out there every day and every night," Selig said on a conference call. "They reacted the way they did. ... I think for the most part, the lineups are very, very good.
Selig pointed out that the Giants were helped out by being at home during the final week of voting; with free wireless Internet access in the ballpark, fans could vote up to 25 times on each mobile device per day.
Selig saw no need to change the system based on Sundays results.
"We have built in enough safeguards, which we didn't have in the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s and even the '90s, so I'm comfortable where we are, Selig said.
Selig said the Giants flood of votes did not compare to the results in 1957, when ballot stuffing in Cincinnati led to seven Reds in the NL starting lineup. Commissioner Ford Frick stepped in and substituted Willie Mays and Hank Aaron for Reds players Wally Post and Gus Bell. Fans werent allowed to vote again until 1970.