2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Host selection

Kauffman Stadium underwent a US $250 million renovation, funded by a 0.375% sales tax increase on the residents of Jackson County, Missouri for the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex, which also houses Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. The referendum passed in an election on April 4, 2006. As a result of the deal, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig promised the area that the team would host a future All-Star Game no later than 2014. On June 16, 2010, Selig officially awarded the rights to host the game to Kansas City for the 2012 season.

Fenway Park was also in contention for hosting the 2012 All-Star Game to celebrate that park's centennial. However Boston had most recently hosted the 1999 All-Star game.

Fan balloting

Starters

Balloting for the 2012 All-Star Game starters began online April 20 and continued through June 28. Fan voting also took place in each MLB stadium, beginning May 8 (at the latest) and ended on June 22. The top vote-getters at each position (including the designated hitter for the American League) and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 1. A record 40.2 million votes were cast, beating out the previous record from 2011 (32.5 million) by a little under eight million. Josh Hamilton was the leading vote-getter with 11,073,744 votes, shattering the record that José Bautista set the prior year with 7,454,753 votes. Buster Posey set a new NL record for votes this year with 7,621,370 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. The online balloting was conducted from Sunday afternoon, July 1, through Thursday afternoon, July 5. The winners of the All-Star Final Vote were Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers (AL) and David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals (NL). Chipper Jones, of the Atlanta Braves, was removed from the ballot on July 3 after he replaced Matt Kemp on the roster due to injury.

Rosters

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

American League

National League

• : Indicates player would not play (replaced as per reference notes above).
• : Indicates player was designated as his team's closer.

The only position player able to participate who was not used was Adam Dunn. Lance Lynn and Huston Street were the pitchers not used by the National League. For the American League, pitchers Yu Darvish, Félix Hernández (who threw 114 pitches on July 8), Jake Peavy, and Chris Perez did not enter the game.

Game summary

In the first inning, the National League scored five runs off of Justin Verlander. Melky Cabrera singled with one out, then scored on Ryan Braun's double. Two two-out walks loaded the bases before Pablo Sandoval cleared them with a triple to the right field corner. Sandoval then scored on Dan Uggla's single. In the fourth, Rafael Furcal tripled with two outs off of Matt Harrison and scored on Matt Holliday's single. Melky Cabrera's home run then capped the game's scoring. The AL had the bases loaded in the fifth off of Clayton Kershaw, but failed to drive in any runs and the NL won 8–0. It was the third straight season the AL lost in an All-Star game. With two hits and two RBI, Melky Cabrera was named the All-Star Game MVP and was the first Giants player to be named All-Star MVP since Bobby Bonds in the 1973 All-Star Game, which was also held in Kansas City.

Starters

Box score

Umpires: Home Plate – Gerry Davis (crew chief); First Base – Jim Joyce; Second Base – Brian Runge; Third Base – Tony Randazzo; Left Field – Lance Barksdale; Right Field – Brian Knight

Weather: Temperature: 90 F, clear; Wind: 11 mph, in from left field

Time of Game: 2:59

Attendance: 40,933

Notes

• Though he retired after the 2011 season, Tony La Russa managed the National League All-Stars, becoming only the second retired manager to manage an All-Star Game after John McGraw did it in 1933. With his win, La Russa became the first manager to win an All-Star Game in both leagues.
• Bryce Harper's selection to the All-Star Game at age 19 made him the third-youngest player ever to be named an All-Star, behind Dwight Gooden and Bob Feller, and the youngest ever position player.
• Gerry Davis umpired his fourth All-Star Game, second behind the plate. The other time Gerry Davis called balls and strikes was the 2002 tie game.
• The National League recorded a five-run inning for the fourth time, in the opening frame for the first time; 1954 (4th inning), 1969 (3rd inning), 2003 (5th inning). The A.L. has previously had three bigger innings in All-Star Game history.
• Pablo Sandoval highlighted the National League's big first inning with the first bases-loaded triple in the history of the Mid-summer Classic. It was the first of the senior circuit's All-Star Game record three triples in the game – the others coming in the fourth inning from Rafael Furcal and Ryan Braun, who became the first All-Star teammates to each triple in the same half-inning.
• Players from the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants (Sandoval, Melky Cabrera and Buster Posey)—who would therefore reap the benefits of the NL's win by gaining home-field advantage in the World Series—either scored and/or drove in seven of the eight runs, while teammate Matt Cain was the winning pitcher; conversely, the five first-inning runs were scored off Justin Verlander, whose Detroit Tigers would be their World Series opponent.
• Fox, the broadcasting network of the game in the United States, preempted the live broadcasts of "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (performed by Luke Bryan) for commercials. Kellie Pickler sang "God Bless America" during the 7th-inning stretch.
• This game was the last time the Houston Astros were represented as a team from the National League. The team moved to the American League West in 2013.
• Sixty-one players (32 N.L. and 29 A.L.) took part in the game, surpassing the nine-inning record of 60 set in 2011. This was the first time there was a shutout since the American League was shut out in the 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

References

References

1. [[List of Major League Baseball All-Star Game winners. All-Star Game winners]]
2. (July 11, 2012). "Giants lead the way in NL's 8-0 win". San Francisco Chronicle.
3. (July 11, 2012). "National League 8 American League 0". ESPN.
4. (July 11, 2012). "Record-low television ratings for All-Star Game". SportsIllustrated.CNN.com.
5. Kaegel, Dick. (April 6, 2006). "Stadium vote goes Royals' way". MLB.com.
6. Vrooman, John. (March 21, 2006). "Stadium Deal between Jackson County Sports Complex Authority and Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs". Vanderbilt University.
7. Mellinger, Sam. (June 16, 2010). "Selig Coming to KC For Formal All-Star Game Announcement". Kansas City Star.
8. Finn, Chad. (November 7, 2008). "Red Sox ask to host 2012 All-Star Game". Boston.com.
9. Vockrodt, Steve. (June 13, 2010). "Kansas City will host 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game". Kansas City Business Journal.
10. (April 20, 2011). "Voting now under way for 2012 All-Star Game". MLB.com.
11. (July 1, 2012). "Rosters unveiled for 83rd All-Star Game". MLB.com.
12. "Top MLB All-Star Vote-Getters of All Time".
13. (July 5, 2012). "Darvish and Freese win, going to All-Star Game". MLB.com.
14. (July 11, 2012). "Game Preview: NLS @ ALS". Baseball Reference.
15. Johns, Greg. (July 8, 2012). "Despite Felix's strong start, Mariners fall in extras". MLB.com.
16. (July 11, 2012). "National League 8 American League Recap". MLB.com.
17. (January 24, 2012). "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today.
18. (July 11, 2012). "La Russa's last game is a first". [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]].
19. (July 8, 2012). "Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton needs knee surgery; Bryce Harper in as All-Star Game replacement". ESPN.com.
20. (July 10, 2012). "All of MLB: 45 Triples in the All-Star Game". [[Baseball Reference]].
21. (2012-07-12). "Country singer Luke Bryan apologizes for All-Star Game national anthem – MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN". Msn.foxsports.com.
22. (2012-07-15). "Kellie Pickler Performs at MLB's 2012 All-Star Game". Music News Nashville.
23. Matuszewski, Erik; Buteau, Michael (November 18, 2011) [http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-18/astros-headed-to-american-league-as-new-team-owner-approved.html "Astros Headed to American League as New Team Owner Approved"] {{webarchive. link. (November 4, 2012 , ''[[Bloomberg News]]''. Retrieved July 17, 2012.)
24. (July 11, 2012). "Melky Cabrera named All-Star MVP in return to Kansas City". [[Tampa Bay Times]].