All Star Game Blog

Prince Fielder belted a three run home run in the bottom of the fourth and from there on out, the National League held on to win the 2011 All Star Game.  What was pretty interesting about this game was it lasted under three hours.

The American League got on the board first.  With two outs in the top of the fourth, Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo home run.  Of course that lead was short lived because in the bottom half of the inning, Fielder hit his three run shot.  The National League extended their lead in the fifth inning when Andre Ethier singled home Rickie Weeks.  They then pushed it to 5-1 in the seventh when Pablo Sandoval doubled home Hunter Pence.

Roy Halladay pitched two shutout frames to start things off for the National League.  Tyler Clippard picked up the win despite getting just one out.  C.J. Wilson was the guy who gave up the three run home run and he took the loss.

So the 2011 All Star Game is in the books.  Now we look ahead to the 2012 All Star Game, which will take place in Kansas City, MO. I wonder when 2012 All Star Game tickets go on sale.

Well, here we are.  The ballots are in and now we have to wait until Saturday to find out who your 2011 All Star Game starters are.  We’ll still have the final poll player to deal with as well.

All I know is I’d love to have All Star Game Tickets this year.  Would mind getting Futures Game Tickets either.

We’re about a month into the voting and there are some interesting trends already.  Buster Posey has a nice lead in the National League at catcher but he’s now out for the season so that opens things up for two other guys, Brian McCann and Yadier Molina.    At first base, Albert Pujols is the top vote getter overall but Joey Votto isn’t far behind.

The biggest lead is at shortstop where Troy Tulowitzki has a nice lead over Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes.  It’s also nice to see the aging veteran, Placido Polanco, getting it done and he’s got an early lead over another veteran, Chipper Jones, at third base.  There’s still plenty of time to vote though so anything can happen.

Chase Field is the location and now we can pick the starters for the All Star Game because MLB unveiled their online All Star ballot yesterday.  Fans can vote up to 25 times for their favorite players and the All Star Game voting by itself has taken on a life of it’s own.  Last year, 21.1 million ballots were entered, which was the second highest figure ever.  In stadium balloting is also kicking off so be sure to check your local ballpark so you can stuff the ballot box that way for your favorite players.

I’ve always wanted to go to an All Star Game.  There are all sorts of great events but my choice would probably be to head down and get Home Run Derby and actual All Star Game tickets.  Unfortunately it’s probably not going to happen this year.

Ticket strips to the 2011 All Star Game go on sale today.  You get a lot for your strip because it includes a ticket to each event over the weekend including the Home Run Derby and the actual game.  You also get two tickets to FanFest.

Of course if you don’t get your ticket that way, or you want to pick and choose, there are plenty of ways to get your All Star Game tickets or your Home Run Derby tickets.  You just have to find them.

Want five days of non-stop baseball action. Well, MLB is offering up just that because All-Star Game FanFest tickets went on sale earlier in the month.  It’ll be held at the Phoenix Convention Center and some of the highlights include an exhibit from the Hall of Fame, batting cages, clinics and autographs.  It’s being billed as the world’s largest interactive baseball fan event.  Of course if you want All Star Game Tickets, that’s a much harder proposition.

Luis Gonzalez was one of the best hitters for the Diamondbacks in their short history and he’s well known for that big hit in 2001 World Series.  That probably went a long way towards him being named the All Star Game ambassador when the Diamondbacks host the game.

Gonzalez has been busy.  When he retired from the Diamondbacks last year, he was then given a spot on the team as a special assistant.  2001 was a magical year for the team and for Gonzalez so it’s fitting that they’re getting the All Star Game on this tenth anniversary.  Not only did Gonzalez have a career year and have the big hit, he also won the home run derby that year.

The Arizona Diamondbacks will be hosting the 2011 All Star Game in the backdrop of the recent illegal immigration laws that have been past over the last year.  Several players have threatened to boycott the game if the laws aren’t changed and it’ll be interesting to see whether they actually follow through on their threats.

It’s interesting that the Diamondbacks have never hosted a game yet.  Then again, out of the four 1990s expansion teams, only the Rockies have hosted an All Star Game.

In 2012, the Royals will host the game.  The last time that happened was way back in 1973 but there was an unspoken promise that they’d eventually get the games if they renovated their ballpark.