One thing that I hope you've come to learn about all of us that run Boston Sports Buzz — all 3 and a half of us — is that none of us are overly apologetic Boston-area sports fans. By that I mean we have our limits when it comes to our favorite teams and players.

For example, I have loved the Red Sox for each of the 25 years I have been on this earth, but I wouldn't blindly and automatically rush to the defense of Pedro Martinez if he were accused of murder just because he was the most dominant pitcher I've ever seen in my lifetime. Need a real life example? I will never again enjoy the antics of Jonathan Papelbon or consider him to be a player I truly like or enjoy after his little tirade about wanting to set the market for dominant closers by going year-to-year and then striking it rich with a long-term deal in free agency, likely to ditch the team that gave him his shot — the Sox — for the biggest payday he can get his money-grubbing, Irish-jig-dancing hands on. See what I'm saying?

But what occurred last night at the 80th MLB All-Star Game was nothing short of a flat-out travesty. Tim Wakefield, a 16-year veteran and one of the finest ambassadors in the game today, was relegated to watching the game from the bullpen after being somewhat controversially named to the first all-star team of his career.

I get that it's tough to slot him in when the game's on the line, and you have guys like Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Mariano Rivera at the back end of the bullpen, so relief duty — even though that's a role with which he's very familiar from earlier in his career — is out of the question. And there are probably a few starters on the team that deserved to get the nod before Wake (with last night's actual AL starter, Roy Halladay, being among them), but what's the problem with having him start the game and toss an inning or two if he's getting guys out? There are tons of fans that have never seen a knuckleball dance across the plate, and Wakefield's as deserving a guy as any to have a bone tossed his way. If the All-Star Game is truly supposed to be an exhibition event, that would have been the right thing to do.

But Selig and the MLB have twisted and contorted it so much by making the game decide home-field advantage in the postseason that it's become all about winning and ratings as opposed to giving the fans a show. I don't know that I agree or disagree with that, but it's a shame that truly deserving players don't get their 15 minutes in the spotlight.