2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

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.

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

^a These players did not see action in the game.
^b Voted onto the roster through the All-Star Final Vote.
^c Unable to play due to injury. Brandon Webb took his roster spot.[6]
^d Unable to play due to injury. Roy Oswalt took his roster spot.[7]

National League: Tony La Russa
American League: Jim Leyland

O Canada was played by members of the San Francisco Symphony. The Star-Spangled Banner was sung by Chris Isaak.[8] Before the game, there was a tribute to former San Francisco Giants slugger Willie Mays. Mays threw the ceremonial first pitch to New York Mets shortstop José Reyes. Paula Cole sang God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch. The first pitch was thrown by the National League's starter, Jake Peavy at 8:54 EDT[8] The game was completed in 3 hours, 6 minutes under an overcast sky and a gametime temperature of 68 °F (20 °C).[9]

Game summary

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 5:54 pm (PDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
American League	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	5	10	0
National League	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	9	1
Starting pitchers: AL: Dan Haren NL: Jake Peavy WP: Josh Beckett (1–0)   LP: Chris Young (0–1)   Sv: Francisco Rodríguez (1) Home runs: AL: Ichiro Suzuki (1), Carl Crawford (1), Víctor Martínez (1) NL: Alfonso Soriano (1)

Barry Bonds (batter) vs Dan Haren (pitcher)

The National League got things started in the bottom of the first when José Reyes led off with a base hit off American League starter Dan Haren and proceeded to steal second.[12] He scored on an RBI single by Ken Griffey, Jr. to give the NL a 1–0 lead.[12] Barry Bonds nearly gave his hometown fans something to cheer for in the bottom of the third when, with Reyes on second, he lofted a high fly ball to left field, but it was snared at the warning track by Magglio Ordóñez.[12] The AL nearly tied the game in the fourth when Alex Rodriguez attempted to score on a two-out single by Iván Rodríguez. However, the throw to home plate by Griffey allowed Russell Martin to tag Rodriguez out at the plate to end the inning.[12] The AL would score one inning later when, after Chris Young issued a leadoff walk to Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki hit a long fly ball off the right field wall. Instead of caroming straight to Griffey, the ball took an unusual bounce off a sign and ricocheted to Griffey's right. This allowed Ichiro to score on what is still the only inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history.[13] The homer gave the AL a 2–1 lead and resulted in Ichiro's MVP win.

The lead would be augmented in the sixth when Carl Crawford hit a line drive that just cleared the right field wall for a home run.[12] Though it appeared a fan may have reached over the wall to catch it, NL manager Tony La Russa did not challenge the umpires' call.[14] The NL got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Carlos Beltrán led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Griffey.[12] The AL added some insurance runs in the eighth when Víctor Martínez hit a two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole to give the AL a 5–2 lead.[12]

The American League's closers then entered the game, with Jonathan Papelbon pitching a scoreless bottom of the eighth.[12] In the ninth, J. J. Putz tried to earn the save and began by inducing a weak pop-up and striking out Brian McCann.[12] Pinch-hitter Dmitri Young rolled a ground ball deep in the hole to Brian Roberts, but he could not come up with it. Alfonso Soriano followed with a two-run home run to right field to cut the NL's deficit to one.[12] After Putz walked J. J. Hardy, AL manager Jim Leyland replaced him with Francisco Rodríguez.[12] However, Rodriguez had trouble consistently locating his pitches and walked Derrek Lee on a check-swing 3–2 pitch and then Orlando Hudson to load the bases.[12] In a move that drew criticism,[15] La Russa elected not to pinch-hit his last player on the bench, Albert Pujols, and instead let Aaron Rowand hit. Rowand lofted a fly ball to right field that was caught by Alex Ríos to close the game,[12] earning the American League their tenth consecutive victory.

McCovey Cove

The State Farm Home Run Derby was held the night before the All-Star Game, July 9, and broadcast on ESPN. Four players from each league competed to hit as many home runs as they could in each round to advance and eventually win the contest. This year, a five-swing swing-off would be used to break ties occurring in any round. This became necessary when Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau tied for fourth in the first round. The champion of last year's Derby, Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, competed even though he was not named to the NL All-Star roster.[16]

In the finals, Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim defeated Alex Ríos of the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 3–2.[17] Guerrero hit 17 home runs in all, second only to Ríos' 19. Guerrero also hit the longest blast of the competition, a 503-foot (153 m) drive to left field that just missed hitting a giant replica glove and baseball set up on the concourse beyond the left field bleachers.

AT&T Park is distinguished by having the San Francisco Bay beyond its right field bleachers. The body of water located adjacent to the ballpark is known as McCovey Cove, named for legendary Giants slugger Willie McCovey. McCovey Cove is known for having many fans sitting in the water in kayaks and boats hoping to retrieve a long home run ball hit there. Though dozens of fans waited in the cove during the Derby, no home runs were actually hit into the water, either on the fly or off the promenade next to the right field seats, though, one foul ball hit by Prince Fielder did reach the water.[18] This was largely due to the three left-handed competitors all exiting in the first round, as well as wind currents blowing toward left field. Prior to the All-Star break, a total of 58 home runs were hit into the cove on the fly during the park's history.[19]

Gold balls were utilized whenever any player had one out remaining during his round. Any home runs hit with the balls meant Major League Baseball and State Farm would pledge to donate money to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Due to the change in sponsors from Century 21 to State Farm, each ball's value was reduced to US$17,000 to reflect the 17,000 State Farm agents in the United States and Canada.[17] In all, twelve gold ball home runs were hit, which, along with a $50,000 "bonus" constituted $254,000 raised for charity.[20]

AT&T Park, San Francisco—A.L. 42, N.L. 32
Player	Team	Round 1	Round 2	Subtotal	Finals	Total
Vladimir Guerrero	Los Angeles (AL)	5	9	14	3 a	17
Alex Ríos	Toronto	5	12	17	2	19
Matt Holliday	Colorado	5	8	13	–	13
Albert Pujols	St. Louis	4 b	9	13	–	13
Justin Morneau	Minnesota	4	–	4	–	4
Prince Fielder	Milwaukee	3	–	3	–	3
Ryan Howard	Philadelphia	3	–	3	–	3
Magglio Ordóñez	Detroit	2	–	2	–	2

^a Recorded only seven of ten outs before hitting winning home run.
^b Advanced after defeating Morneau 2–1 in a swing-off.

The 2007 XM All-Star Futures Game took place on July 8, showcasing the top minor league prospects from all thirty teams' farm systems. The contest is seven innings regardless of the score with pitchers limited to no more than one inning of work. The World team defeated the United States by a score of 7–2.[21] Chin-Lung Hu of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization won the Larry Doby MVP award after driving in two runs on a single and double, plus a stolen base and a run.[21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

• Official website of the All-Star Game
• 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Baseball Reference