All-Star Teams Announced for the 2014 All-Star Game

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On July 15^th, the best of the best will take the field for the 85^th All-Star Game at the dazzling Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the Minnesota Twins.

Baseball fans have been submitting their votes for the All-Star Game since May online or via paper ballot received when visiting one of the 30 MLB stadiums. Fans couldvote up to 35 times per day via their MLB account and were then offered the chance to guess which players would be in the starting line-up for the chance to win tickets to the 2015 All-Star Game at The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio.

On June 23^rd, 2014, Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki were named as the Captains for the Gillette Home Run Derby seeing as they were the top vote-getters to date. They will each choose four sluggers to join them to represent their respective leagues.

While most of these do not come as a big surprise; the following players will represent the American League:

Catcher: Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles is actually a bit of a surprise as he’s out for the season due to Tommy John surgery; Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals will catch instead.

1^st Base: 2013 Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers will start.

2^nd Base: 2013 AL Home Run Derby Captain and 2011 Home Run Derby champ, Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners will man and second.

3^rd Base: Josh Donaldson of the Oakland A’s

Shortstop: The person it should be, Mr. November, the Captain, one of the Core Four, Captain Clutch, whatever you want to call him, one of the best players of our time who is retiring after his outstanding 20 year career and what a way to go out, the New York Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter.

Outfielders: Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles and Home Run Derby Captain, Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Designated Hitter: He’s been knockin’ ‘em out of the park all season long (he’s hit 24 HR’s so far), Nelson Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles.

And in the National League:

Catcher: One of the best catchers in the game, Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals

1^st Base: Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona D-backs

2^nd Base: Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies

3^rd Base: Aramis Ramirez of the on fire Milwaukee Brewers

Shortstop: NL Home Run Derby Captain, Troy Tulowitzki

Outfielders: Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The AL coaching staff is comprised of John Farrell of the Boston Red Sox, Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins and Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians, and they will choose their starting pitcher the day before the game and will choose between (geez the AL East has some dominant pitching):

• Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers
• Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers
• Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariner
• Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees
• Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox
• David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays
• Scott Kazmir of the Oakland Athletics
• Mark Buehrle of the Toronto Blue Jays

The AL relievers are Sean Doolittle of the Oakland A’s, Glen Perkins of the Minnesota Twins, Derek Holland of the Texas Rangers and Dellin Betances of the New York Yankees.

The NL coaching staff is Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves. Their pitching choices include:

• Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers
• Zack Greinke of the LA Dodgers
• Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants
• Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals
• Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves
• Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals
• Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds
• Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres

And in the NL bullpen, you’ll find Craig Kimbrel of the Braves, Aroldis Chapman of the Reds, Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers, Pat Neshek of Cardinals and Tony Watson of the Pirates.

While they’re not starting, the following players will also be in attendance at the 2014 All-Star Game:

American League:

• Catchers Kurt Suzuki for the Twins and Derek Norris for the Athletics
• First basemen Jose Abreu for the White Sox and Edwin Encarnacion for the Blue Jays
• Second Basemen Brandon Moss for the A’s and Jose Altuve for the Astros
• Third baseman Adrian Beltre for the Rangers and outfielders Michael Brantley for the Indians
• Outfielders Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics and Alex Gordon of the Royals
• DH Victor Martinez of the Tigers

National League:

• Catchers Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers and Devin Mesoraco of the Reds
• First baseman Freddie Freeman of the Braves
• Second basemen Dee Gordon of the Dodgers and Daniel Murphy of the Mets
• Shortstop Starlin Castro for the Cubs
• Third basemen Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals and Todd Frazier of the Reds
• Outfielders Charlie Blackmon for the Rockies, Josh Harrison for the Pirates, Hunter Pence for the Giants and Giancarlo Stanton for the Marlins

Fans have one last chance to get their favorite players in before Thursday for each league. Choices include:

National League:

• 3^rd baseman Casey McGehee of the Miami Marlins
• 1^st baseman Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies
• 3^rd baseman Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals
• 1^st baseman Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs
• Outfielder Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves

American League (all pitchers):

• Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros
• Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians
• Garrett Richards of the LA Angels
• Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers
• Chris Sale of the White Sox

26 of these players will be making the All-Star Game debut. The Oakland A’s are sending six players; the Orioles have three starting players elected while the Brewers have two. The winner of this game gets home field advantage for the best-of-seven 2014 World Series. Stay tuned folks; it should be a good game!

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