SAN DIEGO — Did you pick up some crackerjacks at the store? Or are you more of a peanuts person?
Neither? Well maybe you were rooting for the American League All Stars or the National League All Stars?
Well, hopefully for you it was the American League, which defeated the National League 4-2 to win the 2016 MLB All Star Game, as well as the home-team advantage for this year’s World Series.
If you’re watching and were wondering about the MLB All-Star game, also known as the Midsummer Classic, history, here are some interesting tid bits you can share at the watercooler:
Facts: July 12, 2016 – The City of San Diego and the San Diego Padres host the 87th MLB All-Star Game at Petco Park.
The National League has won the most All-Star games overall – 43-41-2 (ties).
History: July 6, 1933 – The first All-Star game is held in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Babe Ruth hits the first home run in All-Star game history. The AL team wins 4-2.
1945 – The All-Star game is not held as there are strict war time restrictions on travel.
1959-1962 – Two All-Star games are held each season.
1962 – The Most Valuable Player award is introduced. Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers is named the MVP for the first All-Star game, and Leon Wagner of the LA Dodgers is the MVP of the second game of the season.
1987, 1994, and 2002 – The All-Star game goes into extra innings.
2002 – The 73rd All-Star game ends in a tie when MLB Commissioner Bud Selig decides to stop the game after 11 innings because the teams had run out of players.
2003 – For the first time ever, the league that wins the All-Star game will have home field advantage in the World Series. Since 1903, home field advantage has alternated between the leagues.
2008 – The 79th All-Star game lasts four hours and 50 minutes, the longest in history. The game also ties with 1967 for most innings played, at 15.
Selection Process: The All-Star team managers are always the managers of the teams that were in the World Series the previous season.
Each team has a 34-man roster, which includes 21 position players and 13 pitchers.
MLB players, managers and coaches are now able to vote and help choose the backup players and pitchers for their league. In the past, the All-Star team managers chose all of the back-up players and pitchers. Managers were accused of choosing players from their own teams instead of the best from around the league.
In the National League, fans select the eight starters. Players, coaches, and managers choose eight backups for each position, plus five starting pitchers and three relievers. The NL All-Star team manager chooses the remaining players to bring the roster to 33.
In the American League, fans vote for nine slots due to the designated hitter position. The players, managers, and coaches also vote for nine positions, in addition to five starting pitchers and three relievers. The AL All-Star team manager will select the remaining pitchers and position players to total 33 roster spots.
Fans vote for the starting positions, while the players, coaches and managers vote for the reserve position. If a player wins both votes, he gets to be the starter in his position since the fans chose him. The runner-up in the coaches/players/managers vote gets to be the reserve player.
Following the conclusion of voting and the announcement of the starters, pitchers, and reserves, fans have the opportunity to select the final position player for each League’s 34-man roster at MLB.com.
