2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 79th 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 played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City, home of the New York Yankees, on July 15, 2008, and began at 8:47 p.m. ET. The game ended at 1:38 a.m. ET the following morning. The home American League won 4–3 in 15 innings, giving home field advantage in the 2008 World Series to the AL champion, which eventually came to be the Tampa Bay Rays.
July 15–16, 2008
The Bronx, New York City
55,632
Fox (United States)
MLB International (International)
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox)
Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
By length of time, this was the longest MLB All-Star Game in history (4 hours and 50 minutes), and it also tied the mark for the longest game by innings played at 15 with the 1967 All-Star Game. Second baseman Dan Uggla of the Florida Marlins committed three errors, an All-Star Game record, none of which resulted in a run. J. D. Drew of the Boston Red Sox was named Most Valuable Player due to his two-run game-tying home run in the seventh inning. Drew won a Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid and the Ted Williams Trophy. It was the second All-Star Game in which the winning run was batted in by the Texas Rangers' Michael Young.
Fan balloting[edit]
Starters[edit]
Balloting for the 2008 All-Star Game starters (excluding pitchers) began on April 29. Because the game was in an American League ballpark, fans were asked to select their favorite AL designated hitter in addition to all the position players. The top vote-getters at each position, and top three among outfielders, were named to start the game.
Votes were cast online and at the 30 MLB ballparks. Monster was 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.[6] Rosters were announced on July 6.[7][8] Alex Rodriguez led all players in votes for the second consecutive year with 3,934,518 votes, while Chase Utley led all National League players with 3,889,602 votes.[9]
Final roster spot[edit]
After the rosters were revealed, a second ballot of five players per league was created for the Monster All-Star Final Vote to determine the 32nd and final player of each roster. Ballots were cast online between July 6 and 10 with the player in each league receiving the most votes added to the team rosters. The winners were Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers and Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays. A record 47.8 million votes were cast in the balloting, shattering the record set the previous year of 23.2 million. Longoria's nine million votes more than doubled the individual record of 4.4 million set by San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young in 2007.[10]
Game[edit]
Ceremonies[edit]
To commemorate the last all-star game at Yankee Stadium, every living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame was invited to the game. Forty-nine players, coaches, and administrators accepted the invitation. Many of them participated in a pre-game parade that went up Sixth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park. During the pre-game ceremonies, the Hall of Famers were introduced and assumed their playing position on the field. Instead of announcing the league lineups separately and in batting order, as is usually done, both teams' starters were introduced simultaneously by position, and the players stood in position next to the Hall of Fame members on the field.
The colors were presented by the West Point Cadet Color Guard.[14]
A recording of O Canada was played,[14][15] and "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung by Sheryl Crow, during which a B-2 stealth bomber flew over.[14] Four Yankees, all members of the Baseball Hall of Fame – Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson and Rich Gossage – threw the ceremonial first pitch, with balls delivered to them by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
During the seventh-inning stretch, Josh Groban sang "God Bless America".
Umpires[edit]
The six umpires working the 79th All-Star game were announced on June 25. The crew was led by Derryl Cousins, a thirty-year MLB veteran working his third All-Star game and his first behind the plate.[16]
Broadcasters[edit]
The All-Star Game was shown live in the United States on Fox Sports, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the booth and sportswriter Ken Rosenthal as a field reporter. Yogi Berra visited the booth in the third inning.
For telecasts in other countries, the game was produced by Major League Baseball Properties under the name MLB International, with Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe as the English-language announcers. In the U.S., the feed was simulcast by Fox Sports en Español with Spanish-language commentary.
The British rights-holder for this game, five (now known as Channel 5) ended its coverage at 6 a.m. BST with the game still in the 12th inning. The network explained that it had a commitment to carry the children's cartoon show The Wiggles that it could not break. The situation is similar to the infamous Heidi Game on the U.S. network NBC in 1968.[20]
The radio rights in the U.S. were held by ESPN Radio; the announcers were Dan Shulman and Dave Campbell.