2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 80th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball.[1] The game was held on July 14, 2009, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the National League St. Louis Cardinals.[2][3] The game was the first All-Star Game held in St. Louis since 1966.[4] This was the seventh year in which the All-Star Game determined home field advantage in the World Series, with the American League winning all seven games up to and including 2009 under this format. After the game, the National League led the series, 40–38–2, but had not won since 1996. Fox televised the contest, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the booth for the game broadcast, joined at the bottom of the 2nd inning by President Barack Obama. Pre-game coverage began at 5 PM US EDT on MLB Network, with ESPN joining in at 7 PM US EDT. Outside the USA, Rogers Sportsnet (Canada) and ESPN America (Europe) carried MLB's international feed with their own video feed and announcers.

2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
123456789RHE
American League200010010481
National League030000000351
DateJuly 14, 2009
VenueBusch Stadium
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
Managers
MVPCarl Crawford (TB)
Attendance46,760
Ceremonial first pitchBarack Obama
TelevisionFox (United States)
MLB International (International)
TV announcersJoe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox)
Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
RadioESPN
Radio announcersDan Shulman and Dave Campbell

The Cardinals had hoped to use the event to show off its planned Ballpark Village residential and entertainment complex to be built on the site of the former Busch Memorial Stadium across the street from the new ballpark. However the plans had not materialized by the time of the game and the Cardinals opted to use the site for a softball field and parking lot instead.[5]

On April 22, 2009, All-Star balloting began on MLB.com with eight position players (excluding pitchers and designated hitters) from each of the 30 teams being nominated for fans to vote. As with the prior year, only 25 email ballots could be cast and voting officially ended at 11:59 ET on July 2.[6] Final rosters, with the exception of the final vote, were announced on July 5.

Fans voted for up to three players per league to participate in the State Farm Home Run Derby. For the first time, the batting practice sessions were telecast on the self-owned MLB Network.

By length of time, this was the shortest MLB All-Star game (2:31) since 1988. At one point during the game, the American League retired 18 straight batters, the second most in All-Star game history.

Final roster spot

After the rosters were revealed, a second ballot of five players per league was created for the All-Star Final Vote to determine the 33rd and final player of each roster. The NL Winner was Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies and the AL winner was Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers. Pablo Sandoval and Ian Kinsler finished a close second in their respective leagues.

Player Team Pos. Player Team Pos.
American League National League
Brandon Inge DET 3B Shane Victorino PHI OF
Chone Figgins LAA 3B Cristian Guzmán WAS SS
Ian Kinsler TEX 2B Mark Reynolds ARI 3B
Adam Lind TOR DH Pablo Sandoval SF 3B
Carlos Peña TB 1B Matt Kemp LAD OF

Coaching staff

American League team manager Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays selected Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman and Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu as coaches for the team along with the rest of his Tampa Bay staff. Both Hillman and Wakamatsu participated in their first All-Star game this year, while Maddon managed the All-Star squad for the first time after participating as a coach in 2003.

National League manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies selected Tony La Russa of the host St. Louis Cardinals and Joe Torre of the Los Angeles Dodgers as his coaches. Torre previously managed the Cardinals from 1990-1995. La Russa has managed an All-Star team five times, and led the 2005 and 2007 NL teams. This was Torre's first NL All-Star coaching position; he has managed an AL All-Star team six times. Manuel previously coached the AL All-Star team in 2002's tie game under Torre.[7]

Rosters

Votes were cast online and at the 30 MLB ballparks. Verizon replaced Monster as the sponsor of the online portion of balloting. There was a limit of 25 votes per e-mail address, but no limit to the number of ballots cast at the stadium. The deadline to cast votes was July 2, and the results were broadcast on the TBS All-Star Selection show on July 5.[8] Albert Pujols was the leading vote-getter in the majors with 5,397,374 votes, while Derek Jeter was the vote leader in the American League.[9][10]

Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

  1. ^ Carlos Peña replaced Dustin Pedroia on the roster due to family obligation; Aaron Hill replaced Pedroia as starter at second base.
  2. ^ Chone Figgins replaced Evan Longoria on the roster due to injury; Michael Young replaced Longoria as starter at third base.
  3. ^ Nelson Cruz replaced Torii Hunter on the roster due to injury.
  4. ^ Zach Duke replaced Matt Cain on the roster due to injury.
  5. ^ Trevor Hoffman replaced Jonathan Broxton on the roster due to injury.
  6. ^ Jayson Werth replaced Carlos Beltrán on the roster due to injury; Shane Victorino replaced Beltrán as starter in center field.

* This player did not start.

# This player did not play.

Game
President Barack Obama throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Ceremonies

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung by Sheryl Crow for the second year in a row. Stan Musial, a former player for the host St. Louis Cardinals and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, gave the baseball for the ceremonial first pitch to the President of the United States Barack Obama, who threw it to the hometown Cardinals' first baseman and leading All-Star vote-getter, Albert Pujols, while wearing a White Sox jacket.[11] During the seventh-inning stretch, Sara Evans sang "God Bless America".

By contrast, little attention was paid to the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada". An instrumental version was played through stadium speakers during the opening ceremonies, a move criticized by Canadian player Justin Morneau.[12]

Starting lineups
American LeagueNational League
OrderPlayerTeamPositionOrderPlayerTeamPosition
1Ichiro SuzukiMarinersRF1Hanley RamírezMarlinsSS
2Derek JeterYankeesSS2Chase UtleyPhillies2B
3Joe MauerTwinsC3Albert PujolsCardinals1B
4Mark TeixeiraYankees1B4Ryan BraunBrewersRF
5Jason BayRed SoxLF5Raúl IbañezPhilliesLF
6Josh HamiltonRangersCF6David WrightMets3B
7Michael YoungRangers3B7Shane VictorinoPhilliesCF
8Aaron HillBlue Jays2B8Yadier MolinaCardinalsC
9Roy HalladayBlue JaysP9Tim LincecumGiantsP

Umpires
Pos.UmpireASG Exp.
HP Dana DeMuth3
1B Brian Gorman2
2B Jeff Kellogg2
3B Ángel Hernández2
LF Tim Timmons1
RF Paul Nauert1

HR Derby/Bullpen Catchers
CatcherLeague
Casey R. MooreNational
Scott CursiAmerican

Game summary
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:50 pm (CDT)
Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri
Team123456789RHE
American League200010010481
National League030000000351
Starting pitchers:
AL: Roy Halladay
NL: Tim Lincecum
WP: Jonathan Papelbon (1–0)   LP: Heath Bell (0–1)   Sv: Mariano Rivera (4)[13][14]

The American League got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning by scoring two runs. Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with a single to right field, then Derek Jeter reached base on a hit-by-pitch. With one out, Mark Teixeira hit a groundball that was misplayed by first baseman Albert Pujols allowing Jeter to score the game's first run. Josh Hamilton later added an RBI groundout. The National League answered in the bottom of the second inning by scoring three runs. Singles by David Wright, Shane Victorino and Yadier Molina, plus a ground rule double by Prince Fielder, all with two outs, gave the NL the lead. The American League tied the score at three in the fifth on a two-out double by Joe Mauer off Chad Billingsley, and retook the lead when Adam Jones drove in Curtis Granderson, who tripled off Heath Bell, on a sacrifice fly in the eighth. American League pitchers at one point retired 18 straight batters (and 22 of the final 24) on just 48 pitches before Joe Nathan walked Adrián González with two outs in the eighth. Nathan, however, struck out Ryan Howard with runners on second and third to end the threat. Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn a record fourth All-Star Game save. Carl Crawford went 1-for-3 but made a great defensive catch in the seventh inning to rob Brad Hawpe of a home run.[15] Crawford was given the MLB All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player award.[16]

Zack Greinke on the mound.

This was the seventh straight win for the American League since the All-Star game had first been used to determine home-field advantage for the World Series. The AL improved to 12-0-1 since its 1996 defeat in Philadelphia — the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history. It was also the first All-Star game without a home run by either league since the 1999 Midsummer Classic in Fenway Park.

Broadcasters
Joe Buck (right) with President Barack Obama (center) and Tim McCarver (left) during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game.

The game was televised live in the United States, and in Canada through the Fox Network by Fox Sports, with announcers Joe Buck (play-by-play); Tim McCarver (color commentator); and Ken Rosenthal, Chris Rose, and Eric Karros (field reporters). MLB International televised the game in English outside of the U.S., with announcers Gary Thorne (play-by-play) and Rick Sutcliffe (color commentator). The American Forces Network also carried the game to U.S. service personnel stationed around the globe.

ESPN Radio broadcast the game, with Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Dave Campbell (color commentator). Peter Pascarelli and John Rooney served as field reporters.

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References
  1. Leach, Matthew (July 16, 2008). "Countdown begins for '09 All-Star Game". News. MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  2. "St. Louis gets 2009 All-Star game". USA Today. Associated Press. January 16, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  3. ESPN news services (January 16, 2007). "Selig signs off on 2009 All-Star Game for St. Louis". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  4. Matthew, Leach (January 16, 2007). "St. Louis awarded 2009 All-Star Game". News. MLB.com. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  5. "Ballpark Village site to become softball field, parking lot for now". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 19, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  6. Newman, Mark (April 22, 2009). "All-Star balloting kicks off on MLB.com". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  7. "American League, National League All-Star Game staffs announced". News. MLB.com. June 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 30, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  8. Newman, Mark (July 5, 2009). "All-Star Selection Show live now on TBS". MLB.com.
  9. Leach, Matthew (July 5, 2009). "Pujols leads Majors in All-Star votes". MLB.com.
  10. Schlegel, John (July 5, 2009). "Pujols, Jeter lead star-studded rosters". MLB.com.
  11. "Musial part of special moment at Classic: Cards' great hands ball to Obama after entering field on cart". MLB.com. July 14, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  12. "B.C. slugger not happy with instrumental O Canada". CTV News. Canadian Press. July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  13. "2009 All-Star Game: Events". Archived from the original on July 30, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  14. MLB.com Game Data
  15. "Crawford's glove runs AL's unbeaten streak to 13 All-Star Games". ESPN.com. July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  16. "Crawford's catch in 7th clinches award". ESPN.com. July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
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