I went through a range of thoughts when it was first announced on Sunday that New York Mets 3B David Wright would not be starting the 2012 All-Star game;

1). My first thought was there must be some mistake because there is NO WAY that Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval would ever be selected over David Wright. Guess I was wrong.

2). My second thought was that Sandoval didn’t deserve to be selected to the All-Star team at all let alone be named a starter. I still maintain that belief.

3). My third thought was that maybe MLB should just do away from the fan voting and allow either current MLB players or even form a committee of ex All-Stars  to choose who should represent the National and American Leagues. That’s when I started remembering.

I began remembering all the times I would beg my Dad or Grandpa or whomever to take me to the ballpark so that I could vote for my favorite players, like Tom Seaver, Jerry Grote and Ed Kranepool…..as well as Willie Horton, Jim Northrup, Eddie Brinkman and Mickey Stanley, just to name a few. I didn’t give two hoots about their stats I just wanted to see my heroes play in the All-Star game and to feel like I had a part in it by voting for them!

I still remember people giving me a hard time because I would vote for Mickey Stanley every year he was on the ballot….I didn’t give a rip what people thought I was gonna stuff that ballot box and get him on the team…..and would be sad but more importantly madder than hell when he wasn’t playing in the game.

That’s when my outrage flew out the window……because I’ve been guilty of the very same thing just as probably all two of you who are reading this has; we threw out the stats and chose our favorite player because we wanted to see him play in the All Star game.

That’s the joy of being a fan dear reader.

Somehow I picture some little kid near the Bay doing the very same thing that I did when I was a kid….stuffing that ballot box anyway and anyhow he can….and catching hell in the process…. in the hopes that he will get to see Kung Fu Panda in the All Star Game and grinning from ear to ear because he believed it was his efforts that got him in.

Hey little man! Forget all about Phil Naessens and others who will blast Pablo’s selection/election on every sports radio show and blog from New York to Corfu Greece. Tell the folks who think you must select only the best player on the ballot to take a hike….ask them if Pablo was s0 bad then what was he doing on the ballot in the first place….that ought to shut them up and you know what the best part of all this is?

Pablo Sandoval is an All Star and not just any All Star but the starting Third Sacker for the National League and YOU made it happen! You out-voted a city of 8,000,000 and got your guy in! Had those other folks done what you did than David Wright would be the starting Third Sacker, wouldn’t he?