The mid-summer classic will be played tonight in ‘The House that Barry Built,’ AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. It’s hard not to enjoy the all-star game, because all of the game’s best are on display, playing on the same field for just one game.

While there won’t be any shortage of star-power in San Francisco tonight, I’ve gone ahead and put together a team comprised of the top first-half players of the season who won’t play in tonight’s game. I’ll call it my all non-allstar team.  

Catcher: Joe Mauer

Mauer did the un-thinkable last season, when he won the American League batting title (by hitting .347) as a catcher. Despite having spent time on the disabled list in the season’s first-half, he’s been  equally as impressive in his third season as Minnesota’s starting catcher. He’s hitting .309 at the break, and he’s also hit four home-runs and drivien in 37 runs. The best hitting catcher in all of baseball, Mauer is the epitome of an all-star. 

1B- Gary Sheffield

Sheffield’s being left off of the AL roster is criminal. I realize that three of his teammates are already on the roster, but that shouldn’t make it impossible for him to be on the team. He’s earned it. He has been Detroit’s best player not named Magglio Ordonez, and his offensive numbers are among the most formidable in baseball. He’s hitting .303 with 21 long-balls and 58 RBI. That’s a good season for most people, and Shef’s got 300 at-bats left in 2007.

2B- Brandon Phillips

Phillips was a minor-league and a decent prospect for a handful of seaons before breaking out in Cincinnati last season, when he drove in 75-runs and stole 25 bases. He’s continued to develop into an upper-echelon player at the big league level in 2007, having already equaled his home run total of a year ago (17). Phillips drove in 47 runs in the season’s first-half and swiped 16 bags, all while batting a respectable .286. This just in. Phillips is more then a legit player. He’s an elite second-baseman.

3B- Chipper Jones

This oldie-but-goodie has been terrific in 2007. Jones has been hitting the cover off of the baseball, ending the first-half with a .329 batting average. Despite missing time with injury he’s also managed to club 15-homers and plate 41-runs. With this being Andruw Jones’ contract season, everybody anticipated a monster season for one of the Jones boys in Atlanta. They just didn’t know that it would be Chipper.

SS- Hanley Ramirez

If Sheffield’s being left off of the AL team is criminal then Ramirez’s being snubbed from the NL squad is tragic. A top-five fantasy player in all of baseball and the embodiment of versatility, Ramirez does everything. He’s smacked 14 home runs, driven in 35, and even swiped a team-high 27 bases. Oh, did I mention he’s hitting .331 at the break? This guy - the NL Rookie of the Year in 2006 - is a mini-version of Jose Reyes, the best player in baseball, and he’s getting no love.

OF- Eric Byrnes

Byrnes, the most-valuable-player on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ roster, couldn’t have had a better first-half. He hit .306, which is 38-points higher than his career-average, while hitting 14-homers and compiling 49 RBI. He also stole 17 first-half bases, just eight less than he swiped in all of 2006. Byrnes, who played in every one of his team’s games in the first-half, is on pace to accumulate more than 200-hits for the first-time in his career. If his numbers aren’t all-star worthy, than I don’t know who’s are.  

SP- John Maine

Maine has been the main-event at Shea Stadium this season, working deep into ball games just about every time out as the best pitcher in the Mets’ rotation in 2007. His 10-4 record is impressive, but it’s nothing compared to the brilliance of his 2.71era. He’s also fanned 93-batters in a team-best 109.2 innings of work, all while limiting opposing hitters to a ridiculously low .214 average against.

RP- Jason Isringhausen

After an off-and-on 2006 season, Isringhausen is back. He’s converted 17-save opportunities this season while pitching to a 1.53 era. Isrinhausen’s made 34 appearances and worked a little over 35 innings for the reigning-champion Cardinals. In that time, he’s whiffed 29 batters and yielded just 13 free-passes. Opponents are hitting less than .160 off of the former all-star, who should have been an all-star this season.