Brandon Inge has been fighting back tears for a few days, since he found out he would be an All-Star. He took one look at his All-Star uniform and nearly cried. Never mind he was the last man named to the team, on a fan vote. He is on the team. He, Brandon Inge, the man who hit .205 last season, who is 32 and has never come close to making the All-Star team before.

It’s all overwhelming. Inge says making the All-Star team is the greatest honor of his career. He feels validated, too. When he was a catcher, the Tigers signed Pudge Rodriguez to replace him. He earned the third-base job instead. Then the Tigers traded for Miguel Cabrera to replace him. And here he is, back at third base, going to the All-Star Game.

“This is not a brag or anything,” he said Sunday, before hitting his 20th and 21st home runs. “It’s for a lot of people. Any person who has been told, ‘He can’t do this, he won’t ever make it, so he might as well just give up’ type of deal … it really pisses us off. It motivates me more than anything.

“I would have worked as hard, until I died, until I got to the point where I wanted to get. I’m still trying to get there.”

So yes, Brandon Inge is absolutely thrilled to be on the All-Star team.

But … well, this says a lot about Inge: He is even more excited about tonight’s Home Run Derby.

He is still that 10-year-old kid who wants to hit the ball as far as he can. When Inge was a kid, he rarely watched full games. He was not consumed by the game’s strategy. But he loved the individual acts of athleticism — the diving catches and rifle throws. Inge and his brother would watch reruns of the original “Home Run Derby,” a made-for-TV contest from 1959 occasionally rerun on ESPN.

For one day, Inge gets to do what Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays once did, in a full ballpark and a national TV audience.

“I don’t care if I don’t hit one,” Inge said. “I’ll tell ’em my pitcher was really good and he threw a no-hitter.”

This is Inge’s chance to be 10 again — to try to hit the thing as hard and as far as he can. Of course, that has been a problem. At times, he seems consumed by “being aggressive” instead of being patient and making contact.

He is having his best season, largely because of changes to his swing. But his approach at the plate has not changed. It is still both endearing (if you like players with youthful zeal) and sort of infuriating (if you are an old-school hitting coach).

“It’s funny, because your numbers are going to justify everything,” Inge said. “I’ve struck out as much this year as any other year, but because I have more home runs and RBIs, nobody cares. The way I look at it is: Who cares about strikeouts? If everybody would just forget about strikeouts and be aggressive, you would hit the ball so much more.

“This year I’m trying to crush every pitch that leaves (the pitcher’s) hand. In doing that, I’m being aggressive. But my instincts take over, and I don’t swing if it’s a ball.”

A lot of All-Stars try to avoid the Home Run Derby. They say it affects their swings. Inge says that is nonsense. He loves swinging for the fences, and for one night, that is all he is supposed to do. Somebody else may hit more home runs. But nobody will enjoy them more.