PITTSBURGH – At PNC Park, a photograph of Andrew McCutchen is taped next to his locker at one end of the Pirates clubhouse. It shows the outfielder in slack-jawed disbelief after he was called out on a pitch that was wide of the plate from here to Aliquippa.

Brutal Freakin Call, someone penned a caption beneath it.

 Yeah, that pretty much sums up his All-Star Game snub, too, doesn’t it?

If McCutchen isn’t one of the best eight all-around outfielders in the National League, then I’m Megan Fox in a string bikini. He’s second in stolen bases (20), 13th in runs scored (51), 16th in hits (91) and 18th in on-base percentage (.372) in the league. And the guy has been in a slump the last couple weeks.

Take into account that McCutchen has been shuttled between three spots in the batting order and doesn’t have a whole lot of established talent around him, and the numbers are that much more impressive.

No matter. You won’t see McCutchen with teammate Evan Meek in Anaheim next week. According to a vote of the fans, players and National League manager Charlie Manuel, guys such as Michael Bourn and Omar Infante deserve to be there instead.

McCutchen isn’t the only player with a legitimate case. This sort of thing happens at this time every year. As long as humans are involved, there is no perfect system. It's just that, under the current one, the best player on his team gets left out too often.

As Ryan Church told me, "Guys get snubbed every year. Sometimes it's because of politics, sometimes it's because of numbers. But based on performance, Andrew is an All-Star by far. He's our most valuable player so far."

For instance, Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps was picked on the basis of his 23 saves in 27 chances. Good numbers. What about his 49 hits and five home runs allowed in 38 2/3 innings, though? If any Nationals player deserves to be there, then either first baseman Adam Dunn or third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is the one. Zimmerman (.296, 16, 47) has outplayed Infante (.307, 1, 22) by country miles.

Based on individual statistics and team record, Bourn (.262, 1, 20) probably merits the honor less than anyone on the National League roster. Like the Pirates, the Houston Astros have serious shortage of candidates, but closer Matt Lindstrom (2.88, 2-1, 20) may be the most deserved one. He and Capps have comparable numbers.

Insert Zimmerman in place of the Infante as the Nationals representative,  Lindstrom in place of Capps as the lone Astros star and McCutchen in place of  Bourn where he belongs, and the National League has a much better team than it does now, it says here.

There’s also not much to choose between McCutchen and Chicago Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd (.306, 9, 37) and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday (.305, 14, 44), either. The Cardinals have five All-Star representatives. That’s a lot for the seventh-best team in the league, ya think?

In the big picture, there’s a more important reason that McCutchen should have gotten the call. At a time when the rest of the sports world has stepped up the pace, baseball has gone slow-mo on us, one reason that it has lost some of its appeal. The game desperately needs elite athletes such as McCutchen to get back in the race again.

This was a great opportunity for the major leagues to showcase one of its best young players, not to mention enhance the entertainment value of the All-Star Game at the same time. Too bad the electors made a Brutal Freakin Call.

"If not for Andrew, I wouldn't have had this opportunity," Meek said.