2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E American League 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 7 1 National League 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0
Date	July 11, 2006
Venue	PNC Park
City	Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania
Managers	Ozzie Guillén (CHW) Phil Garner (HOU)
MVP	Michael Young (TEX)
Attendance	38,904
Ceremonial first pitch	Chuck Tanner
Television	Fox (United States) MLB International (International)
TV announcers	Joe Buck andTim McCarver (Fox) Dave O'Brien andRick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andDave Campbell
← 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game 2007 →

The2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 77th playing of the midseason exhibitionbaseball game between theall-stars of theAmerican League (AL) andNational League (NL), the two leagues comprisingMajor League Baseball. The game was held on July 11, 2006 atPNC Park inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the home of thePittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The contest was the fifth hosted by the city of Pittsburgh – tying theCleveland Guardians for the record ofmost times hosted by a single franchise. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 3–2, thus awarding the AL champion (which was eventually theDetroit Tigers)home-field advantage in the2006 World Series.

As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the 8 starting position players (with nodesignated hitter due to playing in an NL stadium) of each league were elected by fan balloting. The remaining players were selected by a players' vote, each league's team manager, and theAll-Star Final Vote to add one more player to each roster. In all, 32 players were selected to each league's team, not including players who decline to play due to injuries or personal reasons.

The game was the fourth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in theWorld Series. The AL entered the game on a nine-game unbeaten streak (eight wins, with one tie in2002). Many analysts saw the disparity between the leagues as more pronounced than ever this season,^[1] as evidenced by the AL's dominance ininterleague play, where its 154–98 record was the best for either league in the ten-year history of the format.^[2] This was primarily the result of a similar difference in team payrolls, many observers agreed. The AL boasted the four largest in the majors, while the NL had three of the four lowest among the 30 teams. At $194.7 million, theNew York Yankees payroll was more than those of theFlorida Marlins,Colorado Rockies,Pittsburgh Pirates andMilwaukee Brewers combined.

Players initalics have since been inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame.

National League starting pitcherBrad Penny set the tone for the evening, striking outIchiro Suzuki,Derek Jeter, andDavid Ortiz to start the game. Hisfastball had uncharacteristicspeed, never going below 96 miles per hour, and – aside from a lonecurveball – was the only pitch he threw in the firstinning.American League pitcherKenny Rogers wasn't as overpowering as Penny, but still escaped the first relatively unscathed. The AL would get to Penny in the second asVladimir Guerrero hit an opposite-fieldhome run that just cleared the right field fence, giving the AL a 1–0 lead. The NL would respond in the bottom of the inning withDavid Wright hitting his own home run to left field, tying the game at 1–1.

Roy Halladay relieved Rogers in the bottom of the third. It was in this inning when the National League exemplified what it does best: playing small.Alfonso Soriano hit a single with one out andstole second base onGold Glove catcherIván Rodríguez. He tried to score on a single byCarlos Beltrán, but was thrown out at home plate byVernon Wells. Beltran would advance to second on the throw, then steal third and score on awild pitch by Halladay, giving the NL a 2–1 lead.

That lead would seem like enough for the NL for most of the evening. AfterRoy Oswalt relieved Penny in the third,Brandon Webb,Bronson Arroyo,Brian Fuentes,Derrick Turnbow, andTom Gordon would each throw an inning of scoreless relief, limiting the AL to just three hits in that span. After Halladay pitched the fourth,Barry Zito,Scott Kazmir,Johan Santana, andB.J. Ryan would also each pitch an inning without giving up a run, with the only baserunner allowed on awalk by Santana, the only walk of the game.

Trevor Hoffman came on to try to earn thesave in the ninth. After inducing two groundouts back to himself, it seemed like Hoffman, who, at the time, was second all-time in career saves, would finally send the American League to a loss in an All-Star Game for the first time in a decade. However,Paul Konerko hit a single to left past third basemanMiguel Cabrera, and was pinch-run for byJosé Lopez.Troy Glaus hit aground rule double down the left field line, forcing Lopez to hold at third. While it looked like the National League received a break (as Lopez could have possibly scored the tying run if the ball stayed in play), Hoffman allowed a two-strike triple toMichael Young, who went on to win the MVP, scoring Lopez and Glaus and putting the AL up 3–2.

Mariano Rivera would now try to save the game for the American League. Because Lopez pinch-ran for Konerko in the top of the ninth, the American League was left without anyfirst basemen on the roster. Glaus, in the game as athird baseman, moved to first for the bottom of the inning, a position he never played before in his career, while Lopez played third. Despite an error made by Lopez, Rivera pitched a quiet ninth to earn the save and extend the American League's unbeaten streak to ten games.

TheCentury 21 Real Estate Home Run Derby was held on the Monday before the game, July 10. Four players from each league competed to hit as manyhome runs in each round to advance and eventually win the contest. This year's Derby featured an important rule change: home runs in the first round would carry over into the second round. In previous years, some players would hit a tremendous amount of home runs in the first round, but become tired by the second round and hit relatively fewer home runs for that round, often not enough to qualify for the finals. By allowing the home runs to carry over, a player can't necessarily be "punished" for hitting an impressive total in the first round. However, like in previous Derbies, the two finalists start over at zero for the finals.

In the finals,Ryan Howard of thePhiladelphia Phillies defeatedDavid Wright of theNew York Mets 5–4, and hit a total of 23 home runs on the night, leading all competitors. Howard memorably hit his winning home run into a sign guaranteeing one person in the crowd 500 free round-trip flights fromSouthwest Airlines.^[6]

PNC Park is distinct for having theAllegheny River running behind the right field bleachers. As a result, several balls were hit into the river on the fly (a feat that had only been accomplished once before in the stadium's regular-season history), as well as many more bouncing off the walkway alongside the river. Many fans waited in the river incanoes hoping to retrieve a ball, a sight more reminiscent ofthe following year's All-Star Game and Home Run Derby site,AT&T Park.

For the second straight year, gold balls were utilized whenever a player had one out remaining in the round. Any home runs hit with the gold ball meant Major League Baseball and Century 21 would pledge to donate $21,000 (US) to theBoys & Girls Clubs of America andEaster Seals, respectively.^[7] In all, 14 gold-ball home runs were hit, constituting $294,000 raised for both charities.

The eighth annualXM Satellite RadioFutures Game was held on Sunday, July 9, showcasing the topminor league prospects from all thirty major league clubs. Game MVPBilly Butler of theKansas City Royals farm system hit a two-run home run to help lead theUnited States team to an 8–5 victory over the World team.^[8]

CommissionerBud Selig presented theCommissioner's Historic Achievement Award to deceasedPittsburgh Pirates legendRoberto Clemente between the fourth and fifth innings of the All-Star Game.^[9] Clemente's widow, Vera, accepted the award.FOXplay-by-play announcerJoe Buck emceed the ceremony. As a result, he called the bottom of the fourth inning from the entrance behind home plate. Buck created a little controversy when after Vera Clemente spoke what many said was a beautiful, moving speech Buck asked the fans "You guys having fun out here?!"

• Penny became only the second pitcher in All-Star Game history to strike out the side in the first inning.Pedro Martínez accomplished the feat in1999, striking outBarry Larkin,Larry Walker, andSammy Sosa.
• At one point 7 of the 8 position players fans could vote on in the AL were eitherNew York Yankees orBoston Red Sox.
• The 2006 Home Run Derby was the last year thatCentury 21 sponsored it, as the 2007 Home Run Derby was sponsored byState Farm.
• The Pirates became the first team to host the All-Star Game in three different stadiums. The others beforePNC Park wereForbes Field andThree Rivers Stadium, both of which hosted the game twice.

• All-Star Game Home Page
• Team Rosters
• Home Run Derby
• Game Recap and Boxscore

• Major League Baseball All-Star Game
• 2006 Major League Baseball season
• Baseball competitions in Pittsburgh
• 2006 in sports in Pennsylvania
• 2000s in Pittsburgh
• July 2006 sports events in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013