Article:Un-Biased All-Star Picks

With voting for the all-star game over with and official selections right around the corner, I wanted to pick my own version of how the all-star teams should play out, based purely on performance with no popularity taken into consideration.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Starting Lineup: SS Hanley Ramirez Fla. 2B Chase Utely Phi. 3B Chipper Jones Atl. 1B Lance Berkman Hou. RF Ryan Braun Mil. LF Carlos Lee Hou. DH Dan Uggla Fla. C Russel Martin LA CF Nate McLouth Pit. P Tim Lincecum SF

Bench: 3B David Wright NYM 1B Adrian Gonzalez SD SS Jose Reyes NYM 2B Brandon Phillips Cin. 1B Albert Pujols Stl. OF Ryan Ludwick Stl. OF Matt Holliday Col. C Ryan McCann Atl. OF Corey Hart Mil. SS Miguel Tejada Hou. OF Carlos Beltran NYM

Pitchers: RH Edison Volquez Cin. RH Ben Sheets Mil. RH Brandon Webb AZ RH Kerry Wood ChC RH Ryan Dempster ChC RH Brad Lidge Phi. LH Cole Hammels Phi. LH Billy Wagner NYM LH Johan Santana NYM RH Jon Rauch Was. RH Jake Peavey SD

The toughest choice here seems to be who's going to start on the mound for the NL. They've been neck and neck all year, but I picked Lincecum over Volquez because he's been better over the last month.

AMERICAN LEAGUE Lineup: CF Grady Sizemore Cle. RF Ichiro Suziki Sea. 3B Alex Rodriguez NYM LF Josh Hamilton Tex. DH Milton Bradley Tex. 2B Ian Kinsler Tex. 1B Justin Morneau Min. C Joe Mauer Min. SS Mike Young Tex. P Roy Halladay Tor.

Bench: CI Kevin Youkilis Bos. OF Jermaine Dye ChW OF Manny Ramirez Bos. OF J.D. Drew Bos. OF David DeJesus KC OF Carlos Quentin ChW 2B Dustin Pedroia Bos. 3B-OF Aubrey Huff Bal. IF Carlos Guillen Det. C AJ Pierzynski ChW. SS Derek Jeter NYY 3B Evan Longoria Tam.

Pitchers: LH Carlos Lee Cle. RH Justin Duchsherer Oak. RH Mariano Rivera NYM RH Ervin Santana LAA RH Jon Papelbon Bos. LH Joe Saunders LAA RH Joakim Soria KC RH Josh Beckett Bos. RH Gavin Floyd ChW RH Joe Nathan Min.

The AL squad, lead by MVP candidates Josh Hamilton and Alex Rodriguez, doesn't look as strong on paper as it has in the past and their dominance may come to an end this year.

The Giants Baseball Blog-http://giantsbaseballblog.blogspot.com/