July 16, 2008

Baseball All-Stars

Top players from Major League Baseball's National and American leagues come together for the annual All-Star Game.

By Jessie Maxwell

Batter up! Baseball fans gathered in New York City on Tuesday to catch the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium. Fans and players geared up for the game with an afternoon All-Stars parade down 6th Avenue. Then, it was off to the stadium to watch history in the making.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Every year, halfway through the Major League Baseball (MLB) season, the best players from the two MLB leagues compete in what fans call the Midsummer Classic. The best players from the American League bat against the top athletes from the National League. This year marked the 79th All-Star game.

Five Hours of Fun

Because the Yankees will move into a bigger stadium in 2009, this is the last season that games will be played there. This year's players made sure that the last All-Star game in Yankee Stadium would be one to remember.

FRANK FRANKLIN II—AP Baseball Hall of Famers join All-Star players on the field at Yankee Stadium to listen to the National Anthem

Competition between the two leagues was so fierce that the game stretched into 15 innings, lasting four hours and 50 minutes. That's the longest All-Star game in history. The game was so long that both teams started to run out of rested pitchers.

Clint Hurdle, the manager of the National League team, praised his pitchers, who played despite being exhausted. "I'm proud of the way the pitchers [that] we gave the ball to showed up," he said.

Play by Play

The National League certainly showed up! The team didn't allow a single run in 12 of the 15 innings. The team also pitched 17 strikeouts. The National League didn't make it easy, but the American League finally pulled ahead in the last inning to win the game 4-3.

JULIE JACOBSON—AP Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew shows off his All-Star MVP trophy

In the bottom of the 15th inning, Texas Rangers player Michael Young hit a fly ball that gave Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau just enough time to slide into home plate for the win. The victory marked the 11th win in the last 12 years for the American League.

Most Valuable Player

Every year, one player is named the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player (MVP). This year, the award went to first-time All-Star player, J.D. Drew. Drew, an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, waited 11 seasons before finally making the American League All-Star team.

Drew played a great game. He hit a two-run homerun in the seventh inning to tie the score 2-2. He became the 15th player to hit a home run in his first All-Star game.

Because the game lasted so long, Drew, an outfielder, was almost asked to pitch. The Red Sox player said that he would have been up to the task but that "It wouldn't have been anything pretty, that's for sure."

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