Late rally not enough for JUp, Rizzo wins NL Final Vote

NEW YORK – Justin Upton didn't win the Final Vote selection to the National League All-Star team, but the Braves left fielder was nonetheless thrilled by the outpouring of support he received from fans and teammates this week in the balloting process.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo got the most fan votes to beat out a field of five including Colorado’s Justin Morneau, who led until Wednesday night, and Upton, who made up a lot of ground by getting the most votes in the six-hour Twitter portion of the balloting Thursday. The Nationals’ Anthony Rendon and the Marlins’ Casey McGehee trailed that trio.

“The last few days have been a blast, man,” Upton said after the winners were announced Thursday afternoon. “The support from the fan base, and just the support all around. It’s been awesome. I think we did a pretty good job. End of the day, everybody deserved to be there. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

Rizzo hit .280 with 20 home runs, 49 RBIs and a .387 OBP and .512 slugging percentage before Thursday, while Upton had a .280 average with 17 homers, 50 RBIs, a .352 OBP and .503 slugging percentage.

The Braves had three players – first baseman Freddie Freeman, pitchers Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel — selected to the NL squad for Tuesday’s All-Star game at Minneapolis, along with manager Fredi Gonzalez, who’ll serve on the coaching staff.

Major League Baseball did not release the vote totals other than the winning totals for Rizzo (8.8 million) and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (6.7 million), who won the American League Final Vote balloting to give Chicago a sweep of the two spots. They did announce that Upton received the most Twitter votes in either league, and supposedly by a wide margin.

Braves fans tweeted and re-tweeted at a furious pace for six hours, with numerous celebrities tweeting their support including supermodel Kate Upton (no relation).

“That was really cool, man,” Upton said of seeing his Twitter feed dominated by those casting votes for him by including #VoteJUp on tweets. “ ou got people anywhere from Big Boi from Outkast to Jason Aldean, who’s the other side of the spectrum with country music. It was really cool and I really enjoyed it.”

The interaction with fans seemed to more than offset any disappointment that Upton might’ve otherwise had over not making the team.

“Yeah, being able to interact with people on Twitter and people asking for follows, following people back — I truly had fun with it,” he said. “The whole experience was fun and at the end of the day it’s something that I’ll remember experiencing.”

Rizzo’s total vote total was nearly 11 million fewer than Freeman received last year, when the Braves first baseman drew a record 19.7 million votes to beat out Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig for the NL Final Vote ballot.

There’s still a chance that Upton could make the All-Star team as an injury replacement. But if he’s not on the squad, he’ll be home in Scottsdale, Ariz., enjoying a few days off. He wasn’t sure if he’d watch the Midsummer Classic if he’s not playing.