Cubs to make up 22% of All-Star Team

The All-Star rosters and final ballot nominees have been announced and to no one's surprise, the teams are pretty stacked with the three teams that draw the most attention from Major League Baseball and the Four-Letter Network.

In an indication of the talent levels in the National League, the Cubs will send seven representatives to New York, including Kerry Wood and Ryan Dempster. Starting for the team are Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Geovany Soto.

Soto will be the first rookie to start the All-Star game, with Rusell Martin and Brian McCann backing him up. The seven players selected marks a club record, according to Major League Baseball.

The Cubs ran away from the rest of the NL with their seven players - no other team registered more than two.

Now the race begins for the final roster spot, with voting open though Thursday evening.

According to the MLB.com release:

AL nominees are outfielder Jermaine Dye of the White Sox, first baseman Jason Giambi of the Yankees, outfielder Jose Guillen of the Royals, Longoria of the Rays and second baseman Brian Roberts of the Orioles.

NL nominees are outfielder Pat Burrell of the Phillies, outfielder Corey Hart of the Brewers, outfielder Carlos Lee of the Astros, outfielder Aaron Rowand of the Giants and third baseman David Wright of the Mets.

In an interesting bit of behind the scenes information, the league's site has broken down how the reserves got their ticket to Yankee Stadium punched:

(American League) The players selected these reserves: Bradley, catcher Varitek and outfielder Drew, first baseman Justin Morneau of the Twins, second baseman Ian Kinsler and shortstop Michael Young of the Rangers, third baseman Joe Crede and outfielder Carlos Quentin of the White Sox and outfielder Grady Sizemore of the Indians.

(Red Sox manager Terry) Francona added infielder Carlos Guillen of the Tigers, catcher Dioner Navarro of the Rays and pitchers George Sherrill of the Orioles, Justin Duchscherer of the A's, Joe Nathan of the Twins and Joakim Soria of the Royals.

The AL pitching staff is as follows: Duchscherer is joined by fellow starters Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays, Cliff Lee of the Indians, Scott Kazmir of the Rays, and Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana of the Angels. Sherrill, Soria and Nathan are joined by fellow relievers Rivera, Papelbon and Frankie Rodriguez of the Angels.

...

(National League) The players elected these reserves: catcher Russell Martin of the Dodgers, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres, second baseman Dan Uggla of the Marlins, third baseman Aramis Ramirez, shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Astros, and outfielders Holliday, Nate McLouth of the Pirates and Ryan Ludwick of the Cardinals.

(Rockies manager Clint) Hurdle selected shortstop Cristian Guzman of the Nationals, catcher Brian McCann of the Braves, first baseman Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, plus pitchers Zambrano, Dan Haren of the D-backs and Billy Wagner of the Mets.

The NL pitching staff is as follows: Zambrano and Haren are joined by fellow starters Dempster, Brandon Webb of the D-backs, Edinson Volquez of the Reds, Tim Lincecum of the Giants and Ben Sheets of the Brewers. Wagner is joined by Wood, relievers Brad Lidge of the Phillies and Brian Wilson of the Giants.

The players made all the other pitching selections.

That kind of surprises me that Dempster and Wood were player selections. Their numbers are there - and obviously Wood's performance yesterday came after the polls were closed - but I think this speaks a little more to the talent levels in the NL than to the juggernaut that is the 2008 Chicago Cubs.

God, that's a lot sadder now that I see it written down in front of me.

(Image taken for Siberian Baseball)