While the New York Yankees battle back from a horrendous start and try and catch the Red Sox as well as the Rays, the Bronx can at least celebrate the All Star game. Sure the Yankees are looking like a hard sell for the World Series, but the All Star break brings a nationally significant game to New York for perhaps the first time this season.

As everybody knows by now, and is sure to be reminded of countless times in the days leading up to the game, the winner gets home field advantage in the World Series. At the very least Yankee Stadium will get to have a huge impact to a series that has visited its confines 37 times in the last 85 years.

The Yankees will have three of their perennial All Star representatives on the roster with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez starting and Mariano Rivera in the bullpen, but were otherwise snubbed. There is a push to get Jason Giambi in, but it seems bittersweet that in the last year at “The House that Ruth Built” that there are more Red Sox players on the roster than Yankees.

Mike Mussina should have gotten the home field nod after winning 11 games in the first half. He is second in the American League in wins and would be a great send off for a stadium that has seen so much baseball history. Instead Yankee Stadium gets to usher in America’s new love affair with the Red Sox. I would have thought the celebration over the Red Sox’ 2004 World Series would have ended by now.

If the rest of the nation and the league hates lopsided dynasties so much then why do they love Boston? They have the fourth highest payroll. It’s not like these are neighborhood guys making good-unless of course that neighborhood is mid-town Manhattan.

At least the Cubs got seven players in with a first place record. The Red Sox are in second to the Rays and Tampa Bay only has two players in, catcher Dioner Navarro and Scott Kazmir. The Red Sox have seven players with three not being popular vote entries and one of those is Jason Varitek. Please explain that one. He hits .215 and seven home runs and is not even an All Star regular (this is his third appearance).

Perhaps the sky is falling. The Red Sox are being over represented at a game in New York and the closest the Yankees are to having any post-season influence is in the middle of the year.