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The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 82nd in-season exhibition game between the All-Stars of the National League (NL) and the American League (AL); the leagues composing Major League Baseball. The event was held on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the National League Arizona Diamondbacks. The game ended in a 5–1 win for the National League, their second straight All-Star victory. It was the first MLB All-Star Game to be held in Arizona and the first in a National League Park to have a designated hitter.
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With a combination of injuries and rule enforcements, a record 84 players were named to the All-Star rosters. This broke the record of 82 players that were on rosters for the 2010 game.
Background
As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the nine starting position players of each league were elected by fan balloting. The remaining players were selected by a players' vote, each league's team manager, and a second fan balloting to add one more player to each roster. In all, 32 players were selected to each league's team, not including players who decline to play due to injuries or personal reasons.
Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin confirmed on April 10, 2009 that Arizona would host the 2011 All-Star Game and it was officially announced by Commissioner Bud Selig the next day. Phoenix had never hosted the All-Star Game before, the last first-time host city was Denver, Colorado in 1998. The game was the ninth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. Prior All-Star games had only used the designated hitter (DH) rule when in American League parks. However, the 2011 game was the first to feature a DH in a NL park following a rules change in 2010. The NL came into the game having won the previous year's match, their first victory since 1996.
Immigration controversy
Some, such as New York Congressman José Serrano and sportswriter Mike Lupica, had suggested that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should move the game because of the controversial SB1070 anti-illegal immigration bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. Others considered asking club owners, sponsors and even players to boycott the All-Star Game if the law was implemented and the game remained in Phoenix. However, Selig announced on May 13, 2010 that the game would remain at Chase Field in Phoenix as planned.
Starters
Balloting for the 2011 All-Star Game starters began online April 26 and continued through June 30. Fan voting also took place in each MLB stadium, beginning May 10 (at the latest) and ending on June 24. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 3. A record 32.5 million votes were cast, beating out the previous record from 2009 by roughly 9 million. José Bautista was the leading vote-getter with 7,454,753 votes, easily breaking the previous single-player vote record of 6,069,688 held by Ken Griffey, Jr. Three other American League players also topped Griffey's record. Ryan Braun was the National League's leading vote getter, receiving a NL record 5,928,004 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, with online balloting conducted from Sunday afternoon, July 3, through Thursday afternoon, July 7. The winners of the final vote were Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox (AL) and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. Victorino became the first ever two-time Final Vote winner, having also won in 2009.
Box Score
UMPIRES: Home Plate – Dale Scott; First Base – Jerry Layne; Second Base – Hunter Wendelstedt; Third Base – Dan Iassogna; Left Field – Ed Hickox; Right Field – Chris Guccione
Weather: Indoors
Time of Game: 2:50 Attendance: 47,994