A presidential candidate once tried to win votes by suggesting his opponent had shown poor judgment in selecting a running mate. The candidate, Hubert Humphrey, ran an ad that revealed a television screen bearing the message "Agnew for Vice-President?" accompanied by the sound of hysterical laughter. It's considered a classic of the genre.

Of course, Humphrey lost the election, Agnew became vp, Nixon wound up president and, as ridiculous as it sounds after the events of the ninth inning in Philadelphia this afternoon-turned-evening, Billy Wagner is the Mets' representative in the upcoming Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Not Ollie Perez, who threw seven sparkling shutout innings.
Not Carlos Beltran, who drove in the Mets' only two runs of regulation.
Not Fernando Tatis, who crushed the twelfth-inning homer that gave the Mets a blessed reprieve.
Not Joe Smith, who gutted out 2-1/3 innings of solid relief for the win.
Not Jose Reyes, who went 3-for-6, stole two bases and scored what loomed clearly as the insurance run.
Not David Wright, who barehanded a potential stick of dynamite in the eleventh.
Not Carlos Delgado, who calmly worked a walk to set up Tatis' clutch swing.
Not Damion Easley, who bunted Delgado over to exert pressure on Chad Durbin.
Not Scott Schoeneweis, who recorded ten strikes in twelve pitches to secure two lifesaving outs.
Not Pedro Feliciano who waited out a 2:48 rain delay and re-emerged to fan Ryan Howard in one-two-three fashion.
Not Aaron Heilman who finished off the eighth after Feliciano got his man.
Not Endy Chavez, who made a sensational catch before the rains poured down.
Not Brian Schneider, who crouched for three innings more than it appeared he would need to.

Nope, none of those who contributed to the Mets' dramatic 4-2 win over the first-place Phillies were named to the National League All-Star team Sunday. Billy Wagner, who served up a two-out, two-strike, game-tying home run in the ninth inning to Jayson Werth, much as he was serving 'em up with regularity to various Padres and Diamondbacks a month or so ago? He, for now, is your sole 2008 New York Met All-Star.

Because we won, it's to laugh.