by By Jerry Sullivan , Buffalo News

Not this year, though. I'm happy with the results this time. Why complain? They've expanded the rosters again, to 33 players. The fans vote. The players vote. The managers pick players. There's even a vote on the Internet to determine a "Final Man" for each team.

Before you know it, they'll have celebrities and politicians joining in the fun. Maybe they'll give Barack Obama a president's choice for the NL team. Keith Olbermann could add a lefty starter, Sean Hannity a righty closer. Jon and Kate squabble over a backup shortstop.

I think they did just fine this year. Sure, you can point to statistics and make a case for one player over another. That's part of the fun. Baseball lends itself to endless statistical analysis. But on the whole, the selections were quite fair. In some cases, they were inspired.

It wasn't simply the players who were voted in, but the ones who were left off. Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, who had been fixtures in the game for more than a decade -- A-Rod for 13 straight seasons and Ramirez for 11 -- are both sitting home this year.

This has to be a first, but none of Baseball's Top 10 active home run hitters are going to St. Louis for the All-Star Game next Tuesday.

Here are, in order of career homers, the veteran sluggers not included on the guest list: Ken Griffey Jr., Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Chipper Jones, Jason Giambi, Vlad Guerrero and Andruw Jones.

I'm not saying every name on the list is a steroid suspect. But Baseball fans appear to have sent a message, at least when it comes to Rodriguez and Ramirez. They're not going to celebrate players whose achievements have been compromised by steroid use: A-Rod by his own admission, Manny by a positive test.

Yes, both players missed chunks of time. A-Rod missed the first month or so after undergoing hip surgery. Ramirez served a 50-game suspension after testing positive for fertility drugs. But the public has a history of ceremonial voting. They vote on reputation and popularity all the time. Josh Hamilton missed 45 games and was voted an AL starter.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but the entire voting process seemed like a repudiation of the obsession with home runs. Baseball is in a period of transition. The older sluggers, associated with the game's dark period, are slowly phasing out of the game, giving way to a generation of younger players.

Home runs still matter. They're actually up slightly this year, though runs are down for the third year in a row. Teams are placing a higher emphasis on pitching, speed and defense. Sure, I'm paying attention to Albert Pujols and wondering if he can maintain his 60-home run pace. But the game is moving away from a period when it was defined by power-hitting freaks chasing the records of Roger Maris and Babe Ruth.

Well-rounded young stars like Evan Longoria, Hanley Ramirez and Adam Jones are Baseball's future wave. It's good to see a slew of first-timers getting their chance to shine, solid but little-known guys like Yadier Molina, Ben Zobrist, Josh Johnson, Jason Bartlett and Brad Hawpe.

Oh, and then there's the first-timer for the older set. Tim Wakefield, my favorite player on the Red Sox, was named to his first All-Star team at the age of 42.

Rays manager Joe Maddon is a hero among the Red Sox faithful today. I feel like sending him a thank you note. Maddon, who is leading the AL squad in next week's Midsummer Classic, looked beyond mere stats and added Wakefield to the AL squad, honoring the ageless knuckleballer for his years of dutiful service to the Sox.

The nitpickers are aghast at Maddon for the choice. Sure, Wakefield is 10-3, but look at his ERA. It's 4.30! How could Maddon put Wakefield on the team ahead of pitchers with ERAs that were a run or more lower? Who wants to see an old knuckleballer on the mound in the All-Star Game?

Uh, I do. Admittedly, I'm biased. But anyone who follows Baseball understands that Wakefield has been an invaluable member of the Red Sox for years. He gives you innings. He wins games. He saves your bullpen. He goofs up the swings of opposing players in a series.

Wakefield has pitched at least six innings in 13 of 16 starts. He is 6-1 after Red Sox losses. He won after they had lost by 11-6, 9-2 and 8-2, after they'd lost consecutive games by 13-0 and 6-2. There's no stat that tells you what that meant to a beleaguered Boston bullpen.

And in case Yankee fans think I'm biased, it was great to see Derek Jeter lead the fan voting. I can't fathom why anyone would have an issue with it. Jeter, who turned 35 a couple of weeks ago, is one of only four major leaguers with at least 10 homers, 10 steals, 50 runs scored and a .300 batting average. Hanley Ramirez, Torii Hunter and Pujols are the others.

Jeter belongs in the All-Star Game. They should keep naming him to the team until the day he retires. Baseball needs to celebrate the good things in its game, and the Yankee captain is one of them. He plays the game hard and with intelligence. He's a class act and a winner. Over the years, like a lot of Sox fans, I secretly wished he played in Boston.

Maybe for an inning or two, I'll at least get to see Jeter and Wakefield on the same field, two veterans, shining in a younger man's game.

e-mail: jsullivan@buffnews.com

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