(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Every season at this time, baseball fans everywhere are frustrated with the All-Star selections. This is an annual part of the season that never changes, but snubbing Kevin Millwood is inexcusable.

Pitching in a stadium that doubles as a launching pad and an oven, Millwood has been more than good in the first half. He’s been dominating for a team that isn’t exactly used to dominating pitchers.

He’s taken the ball every five days, pitched into the sixth and seventh innings on a regular basis, lost games he would have won with a little offense and single-handedly kept the Rangers from prolonging losing streaks on multiple occasions.

He has in every sense of the word been an “ace.”

Yet, he’ll be home watching an All-Star team featuring the usual Boston gods of baseball, at least the media and their fans think so anyway.

Josh Beckett sports an ERA of 3.67 compared to Millwood’s 2.80. Beckett has pitched 105.1 innings compared to Millwood’s 119.

Tim Wakefield has an ERA of 4.30, yet his ticket has been punched for St. Louis ahead of Millwood. I must be crazy, but I think an ERA of 2.80 is better than 4.30. Maybe I’m just in a parallel universe where those deserving to be All-Stars are actually chosen to represent their team and their league.

Inexcusable.

Criminal.

Now, like I said earlier, this kind of thing happens every year. What makes this not only unfair, but completely ridiculous, is the manager of the AL team and the players in the AL are the ones who select the pitching staff.

How can anyone explain the exclusion of Kevin Millwood? Simple, you can’t, which is what makes it easily the worst of the 2009 All-Star snubs.

Another question that needs to be answered is this: With the winner determining home field advantage in the Fall Classic, wouldn’t each manager want the best team for the game?

Oh I forgot it can’t be an All-Star team without the Red Sox and their “dominating” pitching staff, especially with Wakefield and that 4.30 ERA. Don’t get me wrong, Beckett is absolutely worthy of his selection, but Wakefield? Are you kidding?

At least Millwood will be rested for the second half.

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