2010 All-Star Game

The 2010 All-Star Game was held on July 13, 2010 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. It was the 81st edition of the midsummer classic. The National League defeated the American League, 3-1, to claim its first victory in the mid-summer classic since 1996.

There were several rule changes introduced with this All-Star Game:

Rosters were increased to 34 players.
The Sunday Starter rule meant that pitchers who started on the Sunday before the All-Star Game were considered All-Stars, but were replaced on the roster.
The Designated Hitter rule would be used in every All-Star Game starting with this year's. The National League's starting DH was determined by the manager, while the American League's was designated in fan voting.
One player on each team was designated as eligible for re-entry if needed.

The Teams[edit]

American League[edit]

Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees managed the American League team, with coaches Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Bob Geren of the Oakland Athletics.

Player	Team	Position	Selection	Notes
Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	SS	Player Ballot
Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	P	Replacement Pitcher	Replaced Weaver
Jose Bautista	Toronto Blue Jays	OF	Player Ballot
Adrian Beltre	Boston Red Sox	3B	Player Ballot
Clay Buchholz	Boston Red Sox	P	Player Ballot	Replaced due to injury
John Buck	Toronto Blue Jays	C	Injury Replacement	Replaced Martinez
Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	1B	Player Ballot	Started for Morneau
Trevor Cahill	Oakland Athletics	P	Manager Selection	Replaced under Sunday Starter rule
Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	2B	Starter
Fausto Carmona	Cleveland Indians	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	OF	Starter
Vladimir Guerrero	Texas Rangers	DH	Starter
Neftali Feliz	Texas Rangers	P	Player Ballot	did not play
Josh Hamilton	Texas Rangers	OF	Starter
Phil Hughes	New York Yankees	P	Player Ballot
Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	OF	Player Ballot
Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	SS	Starter
Ian Kinsler	Texas Rangers	2B	Injury Replacement	Replaced Pedroia
Paul Konerko	Chicago White Sox	1B	Injury Replacement	Replaced Morneau
Cliff Lee	Texas Rangers	P	Player Ballot	Lee was named while on the Seattle Mariners, but was traded to Texas 5 days before the game.
Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	P	Player Ballot
Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	3B	Starter
Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	C	Player Ballot	Replaced due to injury
Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	C	Starter	Leading Vote-Getter
Justin Morneau	Minnesota Twins	1B	Starter	Replaced due to injury
David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	DH	Player Ballot
Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	2B	Player Ballot	Replaced due to injury
Andy Pettitte	New York Yankees	P	Injury Replacement	Replaced Buchholz
David Price	Tampa Bay Rays	P	Player Ballot	Starting Pitcher
Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	P	Player Ballot	Replaced due to injury
Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	3B	Manager Selection	did not play
CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	P	Manager Selection	Replaced under Sunday Starter rule
Joakim Soria	Kansas City Royals	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Rafael Soriano	Tampa Bay Rays	P	Injury Replacement	Replaced Rivera
Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	OF	Starter
Nick Swisher	New York Yankees	OF	Final Man
Matt Thornton	Chicago White Sox	P	Manager Selection
Jose Valverde	Detroit Tigers	P	Player Ballot
Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	P	Replacement Pitcher	Replaced Sabathia
Jered Weaver	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	P	Replacement Pitcher	Replaced Cahill Replaced under Sunday Starter rule
Vernon Wells	Toronto Blue Jays	OF	Player Ballot
Ty Wigginton	Baltimore Orioles	2B	Manager Selection

On July 12th, Joe Girardi announced that 3B Michael Young of the Texas Rangers would be replacing Adrian Beltre because the latter had a pulled hamstring, but Beltre confirmed shortly thereafter that his injury was minor and that he would be available to play in the game.

National League[edit]

Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies managed the National League team, with coaches Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants and Bud Black of the San Diego Padres.

Player	Team	Position	Selection	Notes
Heath Bell	San Diego Padres	P	Injury Replacement	Replaced Gallardo
Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	OF	Manager Selection
Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	OF	Starter
Jonathan Broxton	Los Angeles Dodgers	P	Player Ballot
Marlon Byrd	Chicago Cubs	OF	Player Ballot
Matt Capps	Washington Nationals	P	Player Ballot
Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	OF	Starter
Rafael Furcal	Los Angeles Dodgers	SS	Injury Replacement	Replaced Reyes
Yovani Gallardo	Milwaukee Brewers	P	Manager Selection	Replaced due to injury
Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	1B	Player Ballot
Roy Halladay	Philadelphia Phillies	P	Player Ballot
Corey Hart	Milwaukee Brewers	OF	Player Ballot	Started for Heyward
Jason Heyward	Atlanta Braves	OF	Starter	Replaced due to injury
Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	OF	Player Ballot
Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	1B	Manager Selection	Started at DH
Tim Hudson	Atlanta Braves	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Omar Infante	Atlanta Braves	3B	Manager Selection	did not play
Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	P	Player Ballot	Starting Pitcher
Josh Johnson	Florida Marlins	P	Player Ballot
Hong-Chih Kuo	Los Angeles Dodgers	P	Injury Replacement	Replaced Heyward
Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	P	Player Ballot	did not play
Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	C	Player Ballot	All-Star Game MVP
Evan Meek	Pittsburgh Pirates	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	C	Starter
Brandon Phillips	Cincinnati Reds	2B	Injury Replacement	Replaced Utley
Martin Prado	Atlanta Braves	2B	Player Ballot	Started for Utley
Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	1B	Starter	NL's Highest Vote-Getter
Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	SS	Starter
Jose Reyes	New York Mets	SS	Injury Replacement	Replaced Tulowitzki Replaced due to injury
Arthur Rhodes	Cincinnati Reds	P	Manager Selection	did not play
Scott Rolen	Cincinnati Reds	3B	Player Ballot
Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	SS	Player Ballot	Replaced due to injury
Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	2B	Starter	Replaced due to injury
Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	1B	Final Man
Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	P	Player Ballot
Brian Wilson	San Francisco Giants	P	Player Ballot
David Wright	New York Mets	3B	Starter
Chris Young	Arizona Diamondbacks	OF	Manager Selection

Billy Wagner (Atlanta) was offered a roster spot for the National League, but turned it down due to injury.

The Game[edit]

The first half of the 2010 season was dominated by pitching, with four no-hitters, including two perfect games, being thrown, and another perfect game being lost on an obvious umpiring blunder with two outs in the 9th inning. In this context, it is not surprising that pitching dominated the All-Star Game, with each team only managing one run-scoring play. However, the National League's took place with the bases loaded, providing the difference in the 3-1 final score. Former California Angels great Rod Carew threw out the ceremonial first pitch, zipping a perfect fastball to set the tone for the game. There was also a minute of silence in honor of long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who had passed away that morning. In the bottom of the 1st, Derek Jeter was brought to the plate by the recorded voice of long-time Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Sheppard, who had passed away two days earlier.

The top winners in each league, Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, sporting a 15-1 record, and David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays, 12-4, were designated by their managers to start. Both young starters were excellent, each pitching two scoreless innings. Their successors, top starting pitchers from their respective circuits, held the game scoreless over the next few frames, with the Florida Marlins' Josh Johnson being particularly impressive as he set down all six batters he faced, while Cliff Lee, newly-acquired by the Texas Rangers only needed 6 pitches to retire the side in order in the 4th.

One of the first highlights came in the 5th, when David Wright led off with a single against Justin Verlander for the NL, then proceeded to steal second base as Joe Mauer's throw sailed into center field. Wright went to third on Andre Ethier's one-out single, but Verlander retired Corey Hart and Brian McCann to end the threat. The AL immediately replied against Hong-Chih Kuo of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Evan Longoria drew a lead-off walk after falling behind 0-2; Mauer then hit a routine grounder to the left of the mound, which Kuo fielded cleanly, but his throw to first was a good 20 feet over the first baseman's head, placing the runners on second and third with none out. Robinson Cano followed with a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly that scored the game's first run. Then, in a play that killed the AL's momentum, Carl Crawford hit a ball to Hanley Ramirez at shortstop; for some inexplicable reason, Mauer was running from second and Ramirez's throw to Scott Rolen at third base retired him easily. Heath Bell came in to pitch and ended the inning.

The score stayed at 1-0 until the top of the 7th, when new AL pitcher Philip Hughes issued a one-out walk to Rolen. Matt Holliday followed with a single to center, and Rolen, running all the way, made it to third. Lefty Matt Thornton came in to pitch and induced pinch-hitter Chris Young to pop-up to first for the second out. However, Marlon Byrd managed to draw a walk, and McCann seized his second opportunity to drive in a run, hitting a ball deep into the right field corner. Rolen and Holliday scored easily, and Byrd, running all out from first also made it all the way home, sliding in under Jose Bautista's throw to make it 3-1.

The National League then got some clutch pitching from Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals in the bottom of the 7th. After his teammate Holliday put him in trouble by misplaying a fly ball by John Buck into a double, Wainwright walked Ian Kinsler, but retired Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter, the latter striking out on a knee-buckling curveball to end the threat. The 8th inning saw closers Rafael Soriano of the Rays and Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants make quick work of their opponents, both pitching 1-2-3 innings, and Jose Valverde followed by striking out the side in the top of the 9th.

It was now up to Jonathan Broxton of the crosstown Dodgers to clinch the National League's first win in the classic since the mid-1990s. He immediately put himself in trouble by giving up a lead-off single to David Ortiz. However, with Alex Rodriguez still on the bench and Ty Wigginton eligible to re-enter the game, AL manager Joe Girardi elected not to put in a pinch runner for the lumbering slugger, and it would cost him dearly. Adrian Beltre was overwhelmed by Broxton's heat and struck out, but Buck followed by poking a ball into right field which fell just in front of Byrd for an apparent single. However Byrd grabbed the ball on the bounce and fired a rocket to Rafael Furcal to nab Ortiz at second base; Big Papi had hesitated between first and second, not knowing whether Byrd would catch the flare, and was unable to make it to the next base when the ball landed safely. That play ended what was a developing dangerous situation. The next batter, Kinsler, hit a fly ball to deep center, but Young gathered it easily to end the game and give the National League home field advantage in the 2010 World Series.

McCann was named the game's MVP for his clutch double, while Matt Capps inherited the win, having struck out David Ortiz, the only batter he faced, to end the 6th inning. Hughes was the loser, being charged with the first two NL runs, while Broxton earned the save.

Starting Lineups[edit]

National League			Batting Order	American League
Player	Position	Team	Batting Order	Player	Position	Team
Hanley Ramirez	SS	Florida Marlins	1	Ichiro Suzuki	RF	Seattle Mariners
Martin Prado	2B	Atlanta Braves	2	Derek Jeter	SS	New York Yankees
Albert Pujols	1B	St. Louis Cardinals	3	Miguel Cabrera	1B	Detroit Tigers
Ryan Howard	DH	Philadelphia Phillies	4	Josh Hamilton	CF	Texas Rangers
David Wright	3B	New York Mets	5	Vladimir Guerrero	DH	Texas Rangers
Ryan Braun	LF	Milwaukee Brewers	6	Evan Longoria	3B	Tampa Bay Rays
Andre Ethier	CF	Los Angeles Dodgers	7	Joe Mauer	C	Minnesota Twins
Corey Hart	RF	Milwaukee Brewers	8	Robinson Cano	2B	New York Yankees
Yadier Molina	C	St. Louis Cardinals	9	Carl Crawford	LF	Tampa Bay Rays
Ubaldo Jimenez	P	Colorado Rockies	SP	David Price	P	Tampa Bay Rays

Suzuki and Jeter batted 1-2 for the AL for the fifth consecutive season. Ramirez and the NL second baseman (Chase Utley in 2008-2009) batted 1-2 for the NL for the third consecutive season.