MLB announced on Monday that David Eckstein will replace the injured Jose Reyes on the National League roster while Francisco Liriano will replace Jose Contreras on the AL roster.  Contreras pitched on Sunday and opted out of the game while Reyes hurt his hand last Friday and could only pinch run over the weekend.  He becomes the third Met selected that will not be playing in the 77^th All Star Game tonight in Pittsburgh. 

 

The two late replacements follow the weekend additions of Chris Capuano (replacing Tom Glavine – pitched Sunday) and Roy Oswalt (to replace Pedro Martinez – disabled list) to the NL pitching staff.

 

Bombs Away! – With one last majestic swing of the bat, James Sparks won $250,000 from Century 21, someone won 500 free flights from Southwest Airlines, and Ryan Howard beat David Wright in a walk-off to become the second Phillie in as many years to win the Home Run Derby.  Howard hit a total of 23 home runs, one more than Wright, including 5 in the final round to edge out the Mets 3B who had hit four to leadoff the last round.  He hit 8 in the first round, including the last 4 with just one out left, and 10 in the second round to advance to the finals.  His final home run, which came with 4 outs left, hit a sign at the back of the right field bleachers that won 500 free flights for a lucky fan.

 

Miguel Cabrera, who hit 6 in the second round, fell victim to the rule change that had the first round home runs carrying over to the second round for the first time.  Wright had led all players after the first round with 16 HR but hit just 2 in the second, yet with the rule change, Cabrera’s 6 were not enough.  He ended up with a total of 15.  David Ortiz, who hit 10 in the first round including some majestic water-bound shots, hit just 3 in the second for a total of 13, not enough to advance.  

 

Jermaine Dye was the player edged out by Howard as the Sox outfielder’s 7 first round home runs were not enough.  Miguel Tejada, the 2004 winner, and Lance Berkman hit 3 HR each, with Berkman becoming the first to hit the water.  Troy Glaus, who was shut out in his only other derby appearance at Safeco Field in 2001, hit just one HR to finish last. 

 

Once again, MLB used specially marked gold baseballs when players were down to their final outs.  Each home run hit with a gold ball resulted in $21,000 being donated to charity and a total of 14 gold ball home runs were hit, resulting in a grand donation of $294,000 benefiting the Boys and Girls Club as well as Easter Seals.  Ryan Howard accounted for $126,000 himself.

 

All-Star Trivia Question Pt I – With one lone home run on Monday, Glaus narrowly avoided becoming the second player in Home Run Derby history to be shut out in two separate contests.  Can you name the only player in derby history to have put up a zero twice?  

 

All-Star Trivia Question Pt II – Jason Bay did not participate in his home park after going homerless in last year’s world version of the Home Run Derby.  Can you name the very first hitter to go homerless in an All-Star Home Run Derby? (answers below)

 

For Starters – A year ago, Kenny Rogers was virtually persona non grata at the All-Star game in Chicago following his famous incident with a cameraman in Texas.  This year, he is the American League’s starting pitcher.  With Roy Halladay, Jose Contreras and Johan Santana all having pitched on Sunday, manager Ozzie Guillen decided to go with the veteran lefty to start this season’s game in Pittsburgh. 

 

Rogers (11-3, 3.85) has been selected to three previous All-Star games and will be making his third appearance and his first start.  He appeared in the ’95 game, surrendering a game-tying, 7^th inning home run to Mike Piazza in the American League’s 3-2 loss. The Gambler then pitched again last year, allowing a two-run home run to Andruw Jones, again in the 7^th inning, as the AL won its 8^th straight over the NL (ties not included) by a score of 7-5.  In his last three starts before the break, Rogers was 1-0 with an 8.21 ERA, allowing 14 ER on 23 H in 15.1 IP. 

 

And in the NL, with Martinez sidelined and Glavine opting out, Phil Garner chose Brad Penny (10-2, 2.91) to make the start ahead of NL ERA leader Brandon Webb.  Penny, who pitched a third of an inning in relief against the Giants on Sunday, is third in the NL in ERA and has allowed just 3 ER in his last 14 innings while winning his last three decisions.  He will be making his first career appearance in an All-Star game. 

 

All-Star Trivia Question Pt III – Lefty Gomez got the start and pitched 3 scoreless innings to pickup the first of a record three All-Star wins for the American League in the very first All-Star game in Chicago back in 1933.  Can you name the National League’s starting pitcher in that game? (answer below)

 

The Longest Streak – All-Star Style – The American League comes into this year’s All-Star contest having won the last 8 straight decisions.  That is not however, the longest winning streak in All-Star history.  The NL in fact also won 8 straight from 1963 to 1970 and then won a record 11 in a row from 1972 to 1982.  Only the American League’s 6-4 win at Tiger Stadium in 1971 prevented a run of 20 straight NL wins. From 1960 to 1985, the NL went 25-3-1 in All-Star competition (imagine if it had meant home field in the World Series).  The National League holds the all-time lead in the series with 40 wins to the American League’s 34.  There have been two ties.

 

Line Up! – The All-Star game starting lineups were unveiled on Monday.  The American League, led by Pudge Rodriguez’ 13^th All-Star game appearance, shows a clear edge in experience and boasts a combined 41 previous AS game appearances to the National League’s 16.  Just four AL players have appeared in less than 5 AS games while in the NL, no member of the starting lineup has played in the mid-summer classic more than four times.  Four NL players, including Penny, will be making their AS debut this year. 

 

American League

1. Ichiro Suzuki RF (6^th appearance – 3 for 12, 2 BB)

2. Derek Jeter SS (7^th appearance – 7 for 10, 1 HR, 3 RBI – 2000 MVP)

3. David Ortiz 1B (3^rd appearance – 3 for 4, 1 HR, 3 RBI)

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B (8^th appearance – 6 for 19, 1 HR, 1 RBI)

5. Vladimir Guerrero LF (6^th appearance – 4 for 13, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

6. Ivan Rodriguez C (13^th appearance – 10 for 32, 0 HR, 3 RBI)

7. Vernon Wells CF (2^nd appearance – 1 for 2, 1 2B, 1 RBI)

8. Mark Loretta 2B (2^nd appearance – 1 or 2, 0 RBI)

9. Kenny Rogers P (3^rd appearance – 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 HR)

 

Combined Batting – 35 for 94 (.372), 3 HR, 11 RBI

 

National League

1. Alfonso Soriano LF (5^th appearance – 3 for 9, 2 HR, 4 RBI – 2004 MVP)

2. Carlos Beltran CF (3^rd appearance – 2 for 5, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

3. Albert Pujols 1B (5^th appearance – 4 for 8, 2 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI)

4. Jason Bay RF (1^st appearance)

5. Edgar Renteria SS (5^th appearance – 1 for 8, 1 2B, 1 RBI)

6. David Wright 3B (1^st appearance)

7. Chase Utley 2B (1^st appearance)

8. Paul LoDuca C (3^rd appearance – 1 for 4, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

9. Brad Penny P (1^st appearance)

 

Combined Batting – 11 for 34 (.324), 2 HR, 8 RBI

Pujols/Soriano 7 for 17 (.412) 2 HR, 7 RBI - Everyone else 4 for 17 (.235) 0 HR, 1 RBI

 

All-Star Trivia Answer Pt I – In 1993 at Camden Yards and in 1994 at Three Rivers Stadium, a total of 61 home runs were hit in the two contests, however none were hit by Mike Piazza.  Piazza is the only player in Home Run Derby history to take the collar in more than one derby appearance. 

 

All-Star Trivia Answer Pt II – Gary Gaetti of the Twins put up the Derby’s first goose egg during the pre-All-Star game festival in 1989 at Anaheim Stadium.  Eric Davis would wind up winning the contest by hitting three home runs in what was then a team format. 

 

(The following year at Wrigley Field, Bobby Bonilla, Daryl Strawberry, Cecil Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jose Canseco were all shutout while Ryne Sandberg won the contest by hitting three of the five home runs hit that year.  Mark McGwire and Matt Williams hit one each to account for the other two). 

 

All-Star Trivia Answer Pt II – St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bill Hallahan got the start for the NL in the very first All-Star game back in 1933.  He threw 2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 2 hits with 5 walks to take the loss.  One of those hits was a home run by Babe Ruth, the first home run ever hit in All-Star competition.  The five walks in one game issued by Hallahan set an AS record that still stands.  Hallahan finished that season with a 16-13 record, leading the NL in walks with 98.  

 

All-Time All-Star Leaderboard - Hitting

 

Games – Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron – 24

Batting Average (career - min 5 games) – Charlie Gehringer - .500 (10 for 20, 6 GM)

At Bats – Willie Mays – 75

Hits (career) – Willie Mays – 23; (game) – Joe Medwick, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski – 4

Runs (career) – Willie Mays – 20; (game) – Ted Williams – 4

Home Runs (career) – Stan Musial – 6; (game) – Arky Vaughn, Ted Williams, Al Rosen, Willie McCovey and Gary Carter – 2

Runs Batted In (career) – Ted Williams – 12; (game) – Ted Williams and Al Rosen – 5

Walks (career) – Ted Williams – 11

Strikeouts (career) – Mickey Mantle – 17

Stolen Bases (career) – Willie Mays – 6

 

All-Time All-Star Leaderboard – Pitching

 

Games – Jim Bunning, Don Drysdale, Tom Seaver and Juan Marichal – 8

Games Started – Lefty Gomez, Robin Roberts and Don Drysdale – 5

Games Finished – Rich Gossage – 6

Wins – Lefty Gomez – 3

Losses – 6 tied with 2 each

Home Runs – Vida Blue – 4

Walks (career) – Jim Palmer – 7; (game) – Bill Hallahan – 5

Strikeouts (career) – Don Drysdale – 19; (game) – Carl Hubbell, Johnny Vander Meer, Larry Jansen and Ferguson Jenkins – 6

 

On Deck – The 77^th Major League All-Star game from PNC Park in Pittsburgh.  Kenny Rogers (11-3) versus Brad Penny (10-2).  Enjoy the game!