WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MIDSUMMER CLASSIC?

Time was, you could work up a real lather over who was taken and who was left home when the selections were made for baseball's All-Star Game.

Let's can the faux outrage and be honest. You can't really get all that upset about a sports event that's basically turned into a, well, monster promotion for Monster.com, and that the players are far less competitive than they were even 20 years ago. I can still remember Tim Raines, after the '87 game, saying "The National League has once again proved their league is better," and those words actually having some meaning.

It's been obvious for a long time that there are serious flaws with the fan balloting: international voting that will ensure Ichiro will keep getting voted in 10 years after he retires; the lack of a weighting process to keep too Boston/New York players from being picked as starters; and last but not least, the reality if you're a relatively fresh face whose name hasn't penetrated the consciousness of casual fans, you probably don't have much of a chance against the A-Rod, Big Papi, ManRam and Vlady. Also, with the unbalanced schedule and fans making their choices based on impressions formed by watching games at the ballpark or on TV, is it really right that as a Blue Jays fan, I'm making a judgment on Seattle's José López when his team hasn't played Toronto yet this season?

While we're being honest, who actually watches the game itself? Yours truly hasn't since 2002, the infamous 7-7, 11-inning tie in Milwaukee. The game itself is dull and boring like every other all-star game.

However, while the process seems FUBARed, the interest is still there: it's one of ESPN.com's most searched stories this morning. Still, it's worth comparing who the fans voted in and who actually deserved the spot, according to the Win Shares posted at Hardball Times. (Win Shares Above Bench, or WSAB, is a great stat.)

So who got hornswoggled? Way more players than Joe Mauer, the Twins' 23-year-old catcher who's hitting .392 -- names like Carl Crawford, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkilis come to mind. Mauer is the most obvious example, but he's not the only snub.

American League

C: Pudge Rodriguez of Detroit nipped Joe "I Play The Most Physically Demanding Defensive Position, Yet I Have .458 On-Base Average" Mauer by fewer than 17,000 votes. Baltimore's Ramon Hernandez, according to Hardball Times, has the most hitting Win Shares of an AL catcher. He's part of the Final Man vote.

1B: David Ortiz, Boston. One of a handful of players on Evil Empire 1-A whom The Geek admires, but he shouldn't have been on the ballot at first base since he is a designated hitter. Jason Giambi is the most productive real first baseman in the league, and Boston's actual first sacker, Youkilis, is also right up there.

2B: Mark Loretta, Boston. Brutal choice. López is far and away the league's top second baseman. He was only added to replace the injured Robinson Cano.

3B: A-Rod, of course. But where's Joe Crede of the White Sox? According to this, the Jays' Troy Glaus is in the middle of the pack at his position.

SS: Derek Jeter, Yankees. Even the fans couldn't screw that pick up.

LF: Manny Ramirez, Boston. ManRam's having his typical fine year, but sorry, the best left-fielder in the league is Tampa Bay's Crawford, who was left off the roster. Apparently if you had two Devil Rays at an All-Star Game, there's a risk the world might spin a fraction of a degree off its axis and cause major tidal waves. So maybe it was for the best that Crawford was snubbed.

CF: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle. No, the Tigers aren't for real, but did it strike anyone as odd that Detroit didn't have a single reserve selected? Their centre-fielder, Granderson, leads the entire American League with 16 Win Shares (and is tied for the WSAB lead with 10).

RF: Vladimir Guerrero, L.A. Angels. Great player, but not deserving this season. Chicago's Jermaine Dye is the most productive AL right-fielder.

National League

C: Paul Lo Duca, New York Mets. The way things go, he'll probably end up being the all-star MVP like Terry Steinbach back in 1988, since he's probably the least deserving starter in almost two decades. Lo Duca's earned zero WSAB, which is to say the Mets could have run out a couple reasonably competent backups and got the same contributions. Arizona's Johnny Estrada is a better pick; Atlanta's Brian McCann is the reserve catcher, which begs the question of why the last-place Braves received three selections.

1B, 2B, 3B, SS: Albert Pujols, St. Louis; Chase Utley, Philadelphia; David Wright, N.Y. Mets; Jose Reyes, N.Y. Mets. No complaints here. The fans got it right. The players didn't -- Atlanta SS Edgar Renteria is there more or less on reputation and a lack of depth at his position. Bill Hall of the Brewers has been on par with Renteria.

LF: Alfonso Soriano, Washington. The ex-Yankee factor no doubt the always-overrated Soriano get voted in; for all the gushing over his power hitting, his 7 WSAB put him on par with San Diego's trio of outfielders, Mike Cameron, Brian Giles and Dave Roberts. Milwaukee's Carlos Lee should be here, but he wasn't even taken.

CF: Carlos Beltran, N.Y. Mets. No argument here.

RF: Jason Bay, Pittsburgh. Assuming he'll start here since Soriano has never played right. The Trail, B.C., thumper isn't actually having his best year -- in fact, the San Diego trio all exceed his 10 Win Shares. Bobby Abreu is the National League's best right-fielder, but you know, you gotta have Andruw Jones in there.

Abreu, though, is in the Final Man voting, and since he won the Home Run Derby last July in Detroit, that will probably put him over the top. So he's got that goin' for him, which is nice.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.