2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 78th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 2007, at AT&T Park, the home of the NL's San Francisco Giants. It marked the third time that the Giants hosted the All Star Game since moving to San Francisco for the 1958 season. The 1961 and 1984 All Star Games were played at the Giants former home Candlestick Park, and the fourth overall in the Bay Area, with the Giants bay area rivals the Oakland Athletics hosting once back in 1987, and the second straight held in an NL ballpark.
July 10, 2007
San Francisco, California
43,965
Fox (United States)
MLB International (International)
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox)
Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
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 first inside-the-park home run in All-Star history. As per the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the American League champion (which eventually came to be the Boston Red Sox) received home field advantage in the 2007 World Series.[1] The victory was the 10th consecutive (excluding the 2002 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.
Background[edit]
As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the eight starting position players (with no designated 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 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.
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, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hosted the game in 2006.
The game was the fifth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series.[1] The AL entered the game on a ten-game unbeaten streak (nine wins, with one tie in 2002). The NL was looking for their first win since the 1996 game in Philadelphia.
Fan balloting[edit]
Starters[edit]
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 his Yankees teammate Derek Jeter by over 700,000 votes. Ken Griffey Jr., was the top vote-getter in the National League, with 2,986,818 votes.[3]
Final roster spot[edit]
After the rosters were announced, a second round of fan voting, the Monster All-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 and Hideki 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 were pitchers, a first for the event.