"Paul Konerko isn't an All-Star?

That's a joke.

But in the end, it's only a little bit worse that the White Sox first baseman may not be headed to the All-Star Game than a bunch of other almost-All Stars, including CC Sabathia, Victor Martinez, Tommy Hanson, Jhonny Peralta, Andrew McCutchen and Danny Espinosa.

Konerko gets a ton of credit for his perspective about not being named to Ron Washington's American League team. He has known for years how tough it is to compete against Miguel Cabrera and Mark Teixeira, and the challenge only got bigger when Adrian Gonzalez moved from San Diego to Boston.

"I've been around long enough to know how it goes," said Konerko, a four-time All-Star. "This is a tough process because you have the fan vote, the player vote, every team is going to be represented. When you really start to look at it, there are guys with some really good numbers out there that get left off. … When you crunch it all down, you can see how tough it is to get everybody in who's done well."

Konerko was quick to mention teammate Philip Humber as one of the deserving guys who didn't get picked. That's the kind of unselfishness that makes him exactly the type of player who ought to be at Chase Field in Phoenix for the July 12 game.

Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin seemed almost embarrassed to be selected ahead of Konerko, who could still get the call as a result of online 34th Man voting or as a replacement for an injured player."