Hey Now, You're (Not) An All-Star!

Having baseball's best record apparently doesn't get you as many All-Stars as you would think.

Baseball's All-Star teams were announced Sunday and the best team in the NL will be well represented.

Not so much for the AL's best who happen to own baseball's best record.

Lost in the news between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox' domination of the rosters and the news that C.C. Sabathia will be landing in Milwaukee very soon is the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays are sending only two All-Stars to the Midsummer Classic despite having the best record in the bigs at 55-32.

That means no Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine or Troy Percival unless an injury replacement is necessary.

And that's a shame, especially if you take into consideration that the Texas Rangers are sending four players (Milton Bradley, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young) to the All-Star game even though they are in fourth place in the AL West with a 46-43 record.

The Chicago Cubs (53-36) will send a team-record seven players to the Bronx, including catcher Geovany Soto and outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome who were voted in by the fans to be starters.

The Boston Red Sox (52-39) also are sending seven stars to the Bronx including starters Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez. Designated Hitter David Ortiz was also voted in, but will be replaced by Milton Bradley because of injury.

But here's a question for you Rays fans, assuming that you're all not ninetysomething Floridians who fear the Internet. Are you really that disappointed?

Nowadays, the winner of the All-Star game gets home field advantage in the World Series and that might be motivation enough to hold off on stuffing the ballot box, allow yourself to think with a level head and put the best player on that team.

If you're a fan of the Rays or the White Sox (who will only send third baseman Joe Crede and outfielder Carlos Quentin), aren't you happy that home field advantage lies in the hands of A-Rod, Manny and Derek Jeter?

What if your favorite team resides in the National League? Wouldn't you rather have Lance Berkman, Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez fighting your battle for home field for your favorite squad?

Just sayin'.