The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 82nd in-season exhibition game between the All-Stars of the National League (NL) and the American League (AL); the leagues composing

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

. The event was held on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at

Chase Field Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof stadium in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks debuted as an expansion team. Ch ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, home of the National League

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. 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 The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

. 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 Robert Paul Melvin (born October 28, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player and coach, who is the manager of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been named Manager of the Year three times. Selected in ...

confirmed on April 10, 2009, that Arizona would host the 2011 All-Star Game and it was officially announced by

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

the next day. Phoenix had never hosted the All-Star Game before; the last first-time host city was

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. The game was the ninth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

. Prior All-Star games had only used the

(DH) 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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

Immigration controversy

Some, such as New York

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

José Serrano and sportswriter

Mike Lupica Michael Lupica (; born May 11, 1952) is an author and former American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the ''New York Daily News'' and his appearances on ESPN. Biography Lupica was born in Oneida, ...

, had suggested that

Major League Baseball Commissioner The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

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 A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...

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 (at the latest) 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 José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican special advisor for the general manager of the Leones del Escogido and former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in ...

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. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle M ...

Three other American League players also topped Griffey's record.

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and fi ...

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 The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(AL) and Shane Victorino of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. 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 The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

American League

National League

Game summary

Starters

Box Score

''UMPIRES'': Home Plate – Dale Scott; First Base –

Jerry Layne Jerry Blake Layne (born September 28, 1958) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the National League between 1989 and 1999, and throughout both major leagues since 2000. He wore uniform number 24 in the NL, but when M ...

; Second Base – Hunter Wendelstedt; Third Base –

Dan Iassogna Daniel Ralph Iassogna (born May 3, 1969) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball. He joined the major league staff in . In 2012, Iassogna worked his first World Series. He was promoted to crew chief for the 2020 season. Umpiring career His ...

; Left Field –

Ed Hickox Edward Junge Hickox (April 10, 1878 – January 28, 1966) was an American basketball coach and administrator. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he coached the basketball team of Springfield College from 1926 to 1941, coached the American International Col ...

; Right Field – Chris Guccione
''Weather'': Indoors
''Time of Game'': 2:50 ''Attendance'': 47,994 The American League struck first on

Adrián González Adrián González Savín (born May 8, 1982), also known by his nicknames "A-Gon" and "Titán", is a Mexican-American former professional baseball first baseman He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, ...

's two-out home run in the fourth off of

Cliff Lee Clifton Phifer Lee (born August 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2002 and 2014 he played for four teams, most notably the Philadelphia Philli ...

, who allowed two singles.

Tyler Clippard Tyler Lee Clippard (born February 14, 1985) is an American professional baseball free agent pitcher. He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Nationals, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White ...

in relief allowed a single to Adrian Beltre, but

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 Andre Everett Ethier (; born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Do ...

's single off of Jordan Walden. The National League added another run in the seventh when

Hunter Pence Hunter Andrew Pence (born April 13, 1983), nicknamed "The Reverend", is an American former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, ...

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

* Prince Fielder's three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning was the first home run ever hit by a

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

player in the All-Star Game. *

's home run off of

and Fielder's home run off of C. J. Wilson makes it the first time in All-Star Game history where there were two lefty-versus-lefty home runs. *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...

became the second pitcher since 1969 (when saves became an official stat) to earn a save in the All-Star Game after recording a save in the clinching game of the previous World Series.

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

accomplished this feat by finishing the World Series in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and then in the 1990 All-Star Game at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. *

became the first pitcher in Major League history to earn a win in an All-Star Game or a postseason game by facing only one batter and allowing a hit. Adrián Beltré singled to left off Clippard, but

threw

out at home plate to end the top of the fourth inning. The NL took the lead for good in the bottom half of the frame, making Clippard the pitcher of record. *This was also the second-straight All-Star Game where the winning pitcher was a member of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Matt Capps Matthew Dicus Capps (born September 3, 1983) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He is a 2002 graduate of Alexander High School in Douglasville, Georgia, where he lettered in football, basketball, cross-country and baseba ...

was the winner in 2010. *Eight different American League pitchers struck out at least one batter, a record for an All-Star Game that did not go extra innings. * Relief pitcher

Heath Bell Heath Justin Bell (born September 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. As a closer with the San Diego Padres from 2009 to 2011, Bell was a three-time All-Star and twice won the Rolaids Relief Man Award. He was ...

had players and fans laughing as he entered the game in the eight inning. Bell sprinted from the bullpen and did a slide in front of the pitcher's mound, taking out a chunk of the infield grass and leaving grass stains on his pants. "I wanted the fans to have fun with this", said Bell. * For the first time in his career,

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began hi ...

was not named to the All-Star team. * This marked the first time in which the All-Star Game was entirely played indoors since 1986, when it was played at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

References

External links

Official website of the All-Star Game2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Baseball-Reference
{{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio Major League Baseball All-Star Game Sports in Phoenix, Arizona Major League Baseball All-star Game, 2011 Baseball in Arizona

Major League Baseball All Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

2010s in Phoenix, Arizona Events in Phoenix, Arizona

Sports competitions in Phoenix, Arizona

Background

Immigration controversy

Fan balloting

Starters

Final roster spot

Rosters

American League

National League

Game summary

Starters

Box Score

All-Star Game notes

See also

References

External links