2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game


The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 82nd in-season exhibition game between the All-Stars of the National League and the American League ; the leagues composing Major League Baseball. The event was held on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the National League Arizona Diamondbacks. The game ended in a 5–1 win for the National League, their second straight All-Star victory. It was the first MLB All-Star Game to be held in Arizona and the first in a National League Park to have a designated hitter.
With a combination of injuries and rule enforcements, a record 84 players were named to the All-Star rosters. This broke the record of 82 players that were on rosters for the 2010 game.

Background

As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the nine starting position players of each league were elected by fan balloting. The remaining players were selected by a players' vote, each league's team manager, and a 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.
Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin confirmed on April 10, 2009 that Arizona would host the 2011 All-Star Game and it was officially announced by Commissioner Bud Selig the next day. Phoenix had never hosted the All-Star Game before; the last first-time host city was Denver, Colorado in 1998. The game was the ninth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. Prior All-Star games had only used the designated hitter rule when in American League parks. However, the 2011 game was the first to feature a DH in a NL park following a rules change in 2010. The NL came into the game having won the previous year's match, their first victory since 1996.

Immigration controversy

Some, such as New York Congressman José Serrano and sportswriter Mike Lupica, had suggested that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should move the game because of the controversial SB1070 anti-illegal immigration bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. Others considered asking club owners, sponsors and even players to boycott the All-Star Game if the law was implemented and the game remained in Phoenix. However, Selig announced on May 13, 2010 that the game would remain at Chase Field in Phoenix as planned.

Fan balloting

Starters

Balloting for the 2011 All-Star Game starters began online April 26 and continued through June 30. Fan voting also took place in each MLB stadium, beginning May 10 and ending on June 24. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 3. A record 32.5 million votes were cast, beating out the previous record from 2009 by roughly 9 million. José Bautista was the leading vote-getter with 7,454,753 votes, easily breaking the previous single-player vote record of 6,069,688 held by Ken Griffey Jr. Three other American League players also topped Griffey's record. Ryan Braun was the National League's leading vote getter, receiving a NL record 5,928,004 votes.

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 34th and final player of each roster, with online balloting conducted from Sunday afternoon, July 3, through Thursday afternoon, July 7. The winners of the final vote were Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. Victorino became the first ever two-time Final Vote winner, having also won in 2009.

Rosters

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

American League

PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CRussell MartinYankees3
CMatt WietersOrioles1
1BMiguel CabreraTigers6
1BPaul KonerkoWhite Sox5
2BHoward KendrickAngels1
3BAdrián BeltréRangers2
3BKevin YoukilisRed Sox3
SSAsdrúbal CabreraIndians1
SSJhonny PeraltaTigers1
OFMichael CuddyerTwins1
OFJacoby EllsburyRed Sox1
OFMatt JoyceRays1
OFCarlos QuentinWhite Sox2
DHMichael YoungRangers7

PlayerTeamAll-Star Games
Josh BeckettRed Sox3
Aaron CrowRoyals1
Gio GonzálezAthletics1
Félix HernándezMariners2
Brandon LeagueMariners1
Jon LesterRed Sox2
Alexi OgandoRangers1
Chris PerezIndians1
Michael PinedaMariners1
David PriceRays2
Mariano RiveraYankees12
David RobertsonYankees1
Ricky RomeroBlue Jays1
CC SabathiaYankees5
James ShieldsRays1
José ValverdeTigers3
Justin VerlanderTigers4
Jordan WaldenAngels1
Jered WeaverAngels2
C. J. WilsonRangers1

National League

PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CYadier MolinaCardinals3
CMiguel MonteroDiamondbacks1
1BGaby SánchezMarlins1
1BJoey VottoReds2
2BBrandon PhillipsReds2
3BChipper JonesBraves7
3BScott RolenReds7
3BPablo SandovalGiants1
SSStarlin CastroCubs1
SSTroy TulowitzkiRockies2
OFJay BruceReds1
OFAndre EthierDodgers2
OFMatt HollidayCardinals5
OFAndrew McCutchenPirates1
OFHunter PenceAstros2
OFJustin UptonDiamondbacks2
OFShane VictorinoPhillies2

PlayerTeamAll-Star Games
Heath BellPadres3
Matt CainGiants2
Tyler ClippardNationals1
Kevin CorreiaPirates1
Roy HalladayPhillies8
Cole HamelsPhillies2
Joel HanrahanPirates1
Jair JurrjensBraves1
Clayton KershawDodgers1
Craig KimbrelBraves1
Cliff LeePhillies3
Tim LincecumGiants4
Jonny VentersBraves1
Ryan VogelsongGiants1
Brian WilsonGiants3


  1. Kevin Youkilis replaced Alex Rodriguez on the roster due to injury.
  2. Jhonny Peralta replaced Derek Jeter on the roster due to fatigue.
  3. Jon Lester replaced Félix Hernández on the roster due to Hernandez's ineligibility to pitch.
  4. Alexi Ogando replaced CC Sabathia on the roster due to Sabathia's ineligibility to pitch.
  5. Michael Pineda replaced Justin Verlander on the roster due to Verlander's ineligibility to pitch.
  6. David Robertson replaced David Price on the roster due to injury.
  7. Ricky Romero replaced Jon Lester on the roster due to injury.
  8. CC Sabathia replaced James Shields on the roster due to Shields' ineligibility to pitch.
  9. Jordan Walden replaced Mariano Rivera on the roster due to injury.
  10. Miguel Montero replaced Plácido Polanco on the roster due to injury.
  11. Scott Rolen replaced Chipper Jones on the roster due to injury.
  12. Pablo Sandoval replaced Jose Reyes on the roster due to injury.
  13. Andre Ethier replaced Shane Victorino on the roster due to injury.
  14. Andrew McCutchen replaced Ryan Braun on the roster due to injury.
  15. Kevin Correia replaced Cole Hamels on the roster due to Hamels' ineligibility to pitch.
  16. Craig Kimbrel replaced Matt Cain on the roster due to Cain's ineligibility to pitch.

Game summary

Starters

Box Score

UMPIRES: Home Plate – Dale Scott; First Base – Jerry Layne; Second Base – Hunter Wendelstedt; Third Base – Dan Iassogna; Left Field – Ed Hickox; Right Field – Chris Guccione

Weather: Indoors

Time of Game: 2:50 Attendance: 47,994
The American League struck first on Adrián González's two-out home run in the fourth off of Cliff Lee, who allowed two singles. Tyler Clippard in relief allowed a single to Adrian Beltre, but José Bautista was tagged out at home to end the inning. In the bottom half, after two leadoff singles, Prince Fielder's three-run home run off of C. J. Wilson put the National League up 3–1. Next inning, Rickie Weeks reached first on a fielder's choice, stole second and scored on Andre Ethier's single off of Jordan Walden. The National League added another run in the seventh when Hunter Pence hit a leadoff single, moved to third on Brandon League's passed ball and scored on Pablo Sandoval's ground-rule double and went on to win the game 5–1.

All-Star Game notes