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ARLINGTON - Michael Young is thankful to be making his sixth consecutive All-Star trip and most thankful he was voted onto the American League team by vote of the players. Ian Kinsler waits for the “run-off” vote for the 33^rd man that will end Thursday. A.L. manager Joe Maddon said Kevin Millwood was one of three All-Star caliber pitchers left off the roster, and Rays 2B Ben Zobrist earned his manager’s selection in part for his versatility.

6:55: Young earned a reserve nod at third base in his first year at the position, the significance not lost on him.

“Going back to the winter, there was tons of uncertainty as to how this was all going to play out,” Young said of his switch and the promotion of SS Elvis Andrus from Double-A. “To have a situation where the team is settled in … once again, I’m really honored to be the players’ selection. That just means everything to me.”

As a reserve, Young has been in position to be a late-game hero: MVP of the 2006 game in Pittsburgh and knocking in the winning run last year at Yankee Stadium in the 15^th inning.

“The last two years I’ve always messed with Derek [Jeter],” he said. “He goes in there, usually has two or three easy at-bats, gets a little round of applause and he’s out of the game.”

Josh Hamilton was Texas’ lone elected starter. He said Sunday afternoon he anticipates rejoining the Rangers soon and playing in the All-Star Game.

Kinsler’s large fan-vote lead evaporated in the last two weeks, leading to 2008 MVP Dustin Pedroia from Boston landing the starting berth.

“There’s not much of a reaction,” Kinsler said. “Playing in Boston is definitely an advantage when it comes to popularity or whatever it takes to get voted.”

Kinsler did land in the five-man field for the final A.L. slot. Yet another fan vote.

“I think it’s cool the fans do get this involved,” he said. “To have the fans involved is a good process. It definitely gets more viewers for the All-Star Game. It definitely brings more attention to the game of baseball. I can’t frown upon that.”

Tampa Bay’s Maddon mentioned Millwood (already on his way to California on Sunday afternoon) and relievers J.P. Howell of the Rays and David Aardsma of Seattle as the three All-Star caliber pitchers left out.

“Once you get a chance to walk in the choosing shoes, it’s no fun,” Maddon said.

He noted having one representative per team closed the field after adding the White Sox’s Mark Buerhle and Oakland’s Andrew Bailey. He also addressed his selection of Boston’s Tim Wakefield (10-3, 4.30 ERA): “Wakefield’s having a good year. He pitches in Boston. [I take that as a reference to pitching in Fenway.] He’s had a tremendous body of work throughout his entire career. I just felt that getting him on the team was the right thing to do.”

Zobrist, the Dallas Baptist product, has seemingly come out of nowhere to become an integral Rays player. He is hitting .286 with 16 home runs and 45 RBIs. He leads the league in both OPS (1.015) and slugging percentage (.609) after taking over second base from the injured Akinori Iwamora.

“You don’t want to be the anti-nepotist,” Maddon said. “I don’t want to exclude anybody because they’re with us. I thought Ben Zobrist’s numbers, when you really break them down, are among the best in the entire American League. I thought it was important to have him on the team from that perspective. Also, playing a National League game, as the game is in progress there are so many different things that he can do. He can play second base. You can throw him at short. You can throw him at third, all three outfield positions.”

6:57: Jon Daniels said Vicente Padilla’s shoulder soreness will require an additional day’s rest. Dustin Nippert, technically still on the DL, is now penciled in for Tuesday night’s second game in Anaheim, Padilla is now listed as tentative for Wednesday’s series finale.