2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E American League 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 0 5 10 0 National League 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 9 1
Date	July 10, 2007
Venue	AT&T Park
City	San Francisco, California
Managers	Jim Leyland (DET) Tony La Russa (STL)
MVP	Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)
Attendance	43,965
Ceremonial first pitch	Willie Mays
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
← 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game 2008 →

The2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 78th midseason exhibition between theall-stars of theAmerican League (AL) and theNational League (NL), the two leagues comprisingMajor League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 2007, atAT&T Park, the home of the NL'sSan Francisco Giants. It marked the third time that the Giants hosted the All Star Game since moving to San Francisco for the 1958 season. The1961 and1984 All Star Games were played at the Giants former homeCandlestick Park, and the fourth overall in theBay Area, with the Giantsbay area rivals theOakland Athletics hosting once back in1987, and the second straight held in an NL ballpark.

The American League defeated the National League by a score of 5–4.Ichiro Suzuki won the MVP award for the game for hitting the firstinside-the-park home run in All-Star history. As per the 2006Collective Bargaining Agreement, theAmerican League champion (which eventually came to be theBoston Red Sox) receivedhome field advantage in the2007 World Series.^[1] The victory was the 10th consecutive (excluding the2002 tie) for the AL, and their 11-game unbeaten streak is only beaten by the NL's 11-game winning streak from 1972 to 1982 in All-Star history.

As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the eight 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, anda second fan balloting 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 Giants were awarded the game on February 9, 2005.^[2] The game marked the first time since 1962 that one league hosted consecutive All-Star Games, afterPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hosted the game in2006.

The game was the fifth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in theWorld Series.^[1] The AL entered the game on a ten-game unbeaten streak (nine wins, with one tie in2002). The NL was looking for their first win since the1996 game inPhiladelphia.

Balloting for the 2007 All-Star Game starters (excluding pitchers) began on April 27 and continued through June 28. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders are named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 1.^[3] About 18.5 million votes were cast by close to 12 million fans.^[3]Alex Rodriguez was the leading vote-getter with 3,890,515 votes, easily outpacing hisYankees teammateDerek Jeter by over 700,000 votes.Ken Griffey Jr., was the top vote-getter in theNational League, with 2,986,818 votes.^[3]

After the rosters were announced, a second round of fan voting, theMonsterAll-Star Final Vote, was commenced to determine the occupant of the final roster spot for each team.^[4] This round lasted until July 5.Chris Young andHideki Okajima were elected to represent the National League and American League, respectively, in the All-Star Game as first time All-Stars.^[5] All ten players included in the balloting werepitchers, a first for the event.

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

^a These players did not see action in the game.
^b Voted onto the roster through theAll-Star Final Vote.
^c Unable to play due to injury.Brandon Webb took his roster spot.^[6]
^d Unable to play due to injury.Roy Oswalt took his roster spot.^[7]

National League:Tony La Russa
American League:Jim Leyland

O Canada was played by members of theSan Francisco Symphony.The Star-Spangled Banner was sung byChris Isaak.^[8] Before the game, there was a tribute to formerSan Francisco Giants sluggerWillie Mays. Mays threw theceremonial first pitch toNew York MetsshortstopJosé Reyes.Paula Cole sangGod Bless America during theseventh-inning stretch. The first pitch was thrown by the National League's starter,Jake Peavy at 8:54EDT^[8] The game was completed in 3 hours, 6 minutes under an overcast sky and a gametime temperature of 68 °F (20 °C).^[9]

Umpires for the game were announced on June 14.^[10]Bruce Froemming, the most tenured current umpire in Major League Baseball, was named crew chief for the game. It was also revealed that day that Froemming would retire following the 2007 season.^[11]

The National League got things started in the bottom of the first whenJosé Reyes led off with a base hit off American League starterDan Haren and proceeded tosteal second.^[12] He scored on anRBI single byKen Griffey Jr. to give the NL a 1–0 lead.^[12]Barry Bonds nearly gave his hometown fans something to cheer for in the bottom of the third when, with Reyes on second, he lofted a high fly ball to left field, but it was snared at the warning track byMagglio Ordóñez.^[12] The AL nearly tied the game in the fourth whenAlex Rodriguez attempted to score on a two-out single byIván Rodríguez. However, the throw to home plate by Griffey allowedRussell Martin to tag Rodriguez out at the plate to end the inning.^[12] The AL would score one inning later when, afterChris Young issued a leadoff walk toBrian Roberts,Ichiro Suzuki hit a long fly ball off the right field wall. Instead of caroming straight to Griffey, the ball took an unusual bounce off a sign and ricocheted to Griffey's right. This allowed Ichiro to score on what is still the onlyinside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history.^[13] The homer gave the AL a 2–1 lead and resulted in Ichiro's MVP win.

The lead would be augmented in the sixth whenCarl Crawford hit a line drive that just cleared the right field wall for a home run.^[12] Though it appeared a fan may havereached over the wall to catch it, NL managerTony La Russa did not challenge the umpires' call.^[14] The NL got a run back in the bottom of the inning whenCarlos Beltrán led off with a triple and scored on asacrifice fly by Griffey.^[12] The AL added some insurance runs in the eighth whenVíctor Martínez hit a two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole to give the AL a 5–2 lead.^[12]

The American League's closers then entered the game, withJonathan Papelbon pitching a scoreless bottom of the eighth.^[12] In the ninth,J. J. Putz tried to earn the save and began by inducing a weak pop-up and striking outBrian McCann.^[12] Pinch-hitterDmitri Young rolled a ground ball deep in the hole toBrian Roberts, but he could not come up with it.Alfonso Soriano followed with a two-run home run to right field to cut the NL's deficit to one.^[12] After Putz walkedJ. J. Hardy, AL managerJim Leyland replaced him withFrancisco Rodríguez.^[12] However, Rodriguez had trouble consistently locating his pitches and walkedDerrek Lee on a check-swing 3–2 pitch and thenOrlando Hudson to load the bases.^[12] In a move that drew criticism,^[15] La Russa elected not to pinch-hit his last player on the bench,Albert Pujols, and instead letAaron Rowand hit. Rowand lofted a fly ball to right field that was caught byAlex Ríos to close the game,^[12] earning the American League their tenth consecutive victory.

TheState FarmHome Run Derby was held the night before the All-Star Game, July 9, and broadcast onESPN. Four players from each league competed to hit as many home runs as they could in each round to advance and eventually win the contest. This year, a five-swing swing-off would be used to break ties occurring in any round. This became necessary whenAlbert Pujols andJustin Morneau tied for fourth in the first round. The champion of last year's Derby,Ryan Howard of thePhiladelphia Phillies, competed even though he was not named to the NL All-Star roster.^[16]

In the finals,Vladimir Guerrero of theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim defeatedAlex Ríos of theToronto Blue Jays by a score of 3–2.^[17] Guerrero hit 17 home runs in all, second only to Ríos' 19. Guerrero also hit the longest blast of the competition, a 503-foot (153 m) drive to left field that just missed hitting a giant replica glove and baseball set up on the concourse beyond the left field bleachers.

AT&T Park is distinguished by having theSan Francisco Bay beyond its right field bleachers. The body of water located adjacent to the ballpark is known asMcCovey Cove, named for legendary Giants sluggerWillie McCovey. McCovey Cove is known for having many fans sitting in the water inkayaks and boats hoping to retrieve a long home run ball hit there. Though dozens of fans waited in the cove during the Derby, no home runs were actually hit into the water, either on the fly or off the promenade next to the right field seats, though, two foul balls hit byJustin Morneau andPrince Fielder did reach the water.^[18] This was largely due to the three left-handed competitors all exiting in the first round, as well as wind currents blowing toward left field. Prior to the All-Star break, a total of 58 home runs were hit into the cove on the fly during the park's history.^[19]

Gold balls were utilized whenever any player had one out remaining during his round. Any home runs hit with the balls meant Major League Baseball and State Farm would pledge to donate money to theBoys & Girls Clubs of America. Due to the change in sponsors fromCentury 21 to State Farm, each ball's value was reduced to US$17,000 to reflect the 17,000 State Farm agents in the United States and Canada.^[17] In all, twelve gold ball home runs were hit, which, along with a $50,000 "bonus" constituted $254,000 raised for charity.^[20]

AT&T Park, San Francisco—A.L. 42, N.L. 32
Player	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Subtotal	Finals	Total
Vladimir Guerrero	Los Angeles (AL)	5	9	14	3a	17
Alex Ríos	Toronto	5	12	17	2	19
Matt Holliday	Colorado	5	8	13	–	13
Albert Pujols	St. Louis	4b	9	13	–	13
Justin Morneau	Minnesota	4	–	4	–	4
Prince Fielder	Milwaukee	3	–	3	–	3
Ryan Howard	Philadelphia	3	–	3	–	3
Magglio Ordóñez	Detroit	2	–	2	–	2

^a Recorded only seven of ten outs before hitting winning home run.
^b Advanced after defeating Morneau 2–1 in a swing-off.

The 2007XMAll-Star Futures Game took place on July 8, showcasing the topminor league prospects from all thirty teams' farm systems. The contest is seven innings regardless of the score with pitchers limited to no more than one inning of work. The World team defeated the United States by a score of 7–2.^[21]Chin-Lung Hu of theLos Angeles Dodgers organization won theLarry Doby MVP award after driving in two runs on a single and double, plus a stolen base and a run.^[21]

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