Underdogs Longoria, Hart Selected to All Star Game by Fans

Fan voting is over and the underdogs have prevailed. It was announced yesterday that Tampa Bay Rays 3B Evan Longoria and Milwaukee Brewers Outfielder Corey Hart have been selected by the fans to play in the 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium next Tuesday.

Longoria beat out Jason Giambi and Jermaine Dye in the American League while Hart was voted over bigger name stars David Wright and Carlos Lee.

From the Associated Press:

Longoria received 9 million votes for the AL spot and was followed by Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, Brian Roberts of Baltimore and Jose Guillen of Kansas City.

Hart got 8 million votes and was followed by the New York Mets' David Wright, Philadelphia's Pat Burrell, San Francisco's Aaron Rowand and Houston's Carlos Lee.

Major League Baseball said a record 47.8 million votes were cast, more than double last year's 23.1 million.

As much as I love Corey Hart, I'm very surprised to see David Wright and Carlos Lee left off the roster. Both Wright and Lee are having great seasons and should be included in this year's lineup. It makes it fair to allow a player from every team play, but at the cost of leaving a much better player off the roster, it kind of defeats the purpose of the "All Star" game. Thoughts?

***UPDATE***

Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, also manager of the National League All Star team, has announced that David Wright will replace injured Alfonso Soriano on the team.