Brandon Inge has been vindicated -- by 11.8 million votes.
        First, the Tigers tried unsuccessfully to trade him in the spring of 2008 after they acquired Miguel Cabrera to take Brandon’s place at third base.
        Then Inge’s peers, the other players in the American League, snubbed him this season when they voted for the reserves for next week’s All-Star Game.
        But the public has spoken.
        The popular, persevering Inge is an All-Star after all -- thanks to his fans, some of whom, admittedly, voted 1,000 times or more in a special last-chance Internet election which ended Thursday.
        “The All-Star Game is the ultimate pat on the back,” said Inge, who will now join Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson at baseball’s annual mid-season gala in St. Louis on Tuesday night. “It says you’re one of the best in all of baseball, and all the world. It is one of the highest honors. Personally, it is the highest honor.
        “It’s been a dream since I was a little kid,” Inge added. “It’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me in baseball.”
        Not bad for a guy, just 16 months ago, was without an everyday position and wondering which team he would be playing for next.
        “One year, it’s terrible for you -- the next year, you turn it around and make the All-Star team,” Inge said, acknowledging the irony.
        Only the Boston Red Sox, with six, will have more players on the AL All-Star team  than the Tigers’ four.