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Summertime With Our Troops  Thank you for risking your lives every day so that we can continue to enjoy our freedom.  On Tuesday night July 11, 2006, 32 of the best players from the National League and the American League will square off at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the 77th Midsummer Classic, the 2006 Major League Baseball All Star Game!  Houston manager Phil Garner, a popular former Pirates player, will look to lead the National League to its first win since 1996. In the visiting dugout, Ozzie Guillen, skipper of the defending World Series champion Chicago White Sox, will attempt to give the Junior Circuit home-field advantage in the World Series for the fourth consecutive year.   Take Me Out To The Ballgame John Fogerty~Centerfield Kenny Rogers~The Greatest Tim McGraw~The Closer  The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the manager for pitchers and reserve players. The All-Star Game usually occurs in early to mid-July and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Major League Baseball (MLB) season, and is used to determine home field advantage for the upcoming World Series.
The first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one.
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Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, put together the first All-Star Game in 1933 as a part of Chicago's Exposition that year. The contest has retained its basic form ever since: teams of NL and AL stars, usually chosen by the fans and the year's All-Star managers, compete against each other in a mid-summer exhibition game. Arch Ward was hired by Knute Rockne as Notre Dame's first sports information director in 1919. Through his sports information background, Ward also organized the Golden Glove and Silver Skates competitions. Ward was the Founder of major league baseball All-Star Game (1933), College All-Star Game (1934) and the All-American Football Conference (1946,49). |
There have been many memorable moments in the All-Star Games. The aging Babe Ruth won the first Game with a three-run homer, setting an early pattern of AL dominance by the younger league's abundance of superstar sluggers. The 1934 game featured Carl Hubbell striking out Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, and Cronin consecutively, the first three on twelve pitches with two runners on in the first inning. He then struck out Lefty Gomez, the AL pitcher; Hubbell's six strikeouts in an All-Star Game have since been tied but not bettered. An unfortunate incident occurred in the 1937 game when Earl Averill's line drive hit Dizzy Dean on the toe. When told by the doctor that the toe was fractured, Dean said, "Fractured, hell! The damn thing's broke!" He hurt his arm by favoring his foot when he came back, shortening his Hall of Fame career.  The first shutout was recorded by the NL in a 4-0 victory in 1940, Paul Derringer getting the victory with support from Bucky Walters, Whit Wyatt, Larry French, and Hubbell. The AL was 12-4 in the first sixteen years of the mid-summer contest, including a thrilling 1941 victory on Ted Williams's three-run homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the AL down 5-4. The most exciting All-Star Game of the decade was the 14-inning contest of 1950, tied on a Ralph Kiner HR in the ninth and won by a Red Schoendienst homer. Larry Jansen pitched one-hit ball for five innings and struck out six. Ted Williams broke his elbow while robbing Kiner with a catch against the wall in the first inning, but Williams stayed in the game and had an RBI single in the fifth inning. Williams had also saved the 1949 contest with a running catch of a Don Newcombe liner that was slicing away from him with the bases loaded in the second inning.  Stan Musial, helped by the two-contest-a-year format that continued through 1962, set an All-Star record by playing in 24 games. Denny McLain pitched three perfect innings in the 1966 contest, but the NL won yet again on a game-winning 10th-inning single by Maury Wills that drove in Tim McCarver. In 1967 Tony Perez homered in the 15th inning off Catfish Hunter to give the NL a 2-1 victory in the longest All-Star Game ever.  Rico Carty became the first player elected as a write-in candidate as his comeback season caught the ballot makers by surprise in 1970. The NL won that year on 12th-inning singles by Pete Rose, Billy Grabarkewitz, and Jim Hickman. Rose scored the winning run in a famous home-plate collision with catcher Ray Fosse that broke Fosse's collarbone. He was never the same afterwards. The only AL win in the 1970s came in 1971, when Reggie Jackson crushed a mammoth home run that caromed off a light standard atop the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium.  1989 marked the first All-Star Game to feature the DH, but the Royals' Bo Jackson, starting in left field for the American Leaguers, stole the show as the AL won, 5-3. He homered off Rick Reuschel to lead off the bottom of the first and in the second swiped second base to become the second All-Star after Willie Mays to homer and steal a base in the same game. In his only All-Star appearance, Jackson walked home with the MVP award. The most newsworthy All-Star event of the 1990s didn't happen on the field, but rather when the AL'ers assembled for a team picture before the 1996 contest. White Sox closer Roberto Hernandez accidentally tumbled into starting shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., breaking the Iron Man's nose, but Ripken played six innings with a schnozz full of gauze and continued his consecutive-games streak when regular-season play began two days later.   The manager for each league's team has for many years been the manager of the previous year's league champion. This honor is applied to the person, not the team, so it's possible that the All-Star manager could no longer be with the team he won with. The coaching staff is selected by the manager.
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Philip Garner is a former infielder in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988. Nicknamed "Scrap Iron" due to his gritty style of play, Garner later became a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros, leading them to the World Series in 2005. |
| Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios, known as Ozzie Guillén, is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball and the current manager of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox. Following his playing career, Guillén coached for the Montreal Expos in 2002 and Florida Marlins in 2003. In 1985, Guillén received both the AL Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards. Then, he was selected an All-Star in 1988, 1990-91, and won the Gold Glove Award in 1990. Guillén ranks among the White Sox all-time leaders in games played, hits and at-bats. |
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The American and National league teams for the July 11 All-Star Game were set Sunday, July 2, 2006, and the rosters are heavy on the East Coast. Nine of the 16 players elected to the starting lineups in the fan balloting are from either the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets or New York Yankees. The Mets, runaway leaders in the National League East with the league's best record, will have infielders David Wright and Jose Reyes, outfielder Carlos Beltran and catcher Paul Lo Duca as starters.
The Red Sox, leaders in the American League East, will have outfielder Manny Ramirez, second baseman Mark Loretta and first baseman David Ortiz, even though Ortiz is primarily a DH. Yankees infielders Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will also be AL starters.
The Tigers, who lead the defending World Series champion Chicago White Sox in the American League Central with the best record in baseball (56-26), got catcher Ivan Rodriguez, their only starter, and pitcher Kenny Rogers, a lefty. Rodriguez overcame Boston's Jason Varitek in the final week of voting to make a record 11th start for catchers. Here is the complete roster!
AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STARS
Starters
Team No.
1B David Ortiz BOS 3
2B Mark Loretta BOS 2
3B Alex Rodriguez NYY 9
SS Derek Jeter NYY 7
C Ivan Rodriguez DET 14
OF Vladimir Guerrero LAA 7
OF Manny Ramirez* BOS 8
OF Ichiro Suzuki SEA 6
Pitchers
Team No.
SP Mark Buerhle CWS 3
SP Jose Contreras CWS 1
SP Roy Halladay TOR 2
SP Scott Kazmir TB 1
SP Mark Redman KC 1
SP Kenny Rogers DET 3
SP Johan Santana MIN 2
SP Barry Zito OAK 2
RP Bobby Jenks CWS 1
RP Jon Papelbon BOS 1
RP Mariano Rivera NYY 6
RP B.J. Ryan TOR 2
Reserves
Team No.
1B Paul Konerko CWS 3
1B Jim Thome CWS 5
2B Robinson Cano * NYY 1
2B Jose Lopez ** SEA 1
3B Troy Glaus TOR 4
SS Miguel Tejada BAL 4
SS Michael Young TEX 3
C Joe Mauer MIN 1
OF Jermaine Dye CWS 2
OF Alex Rios * TOR 1
OF Gary Matthews, Jr. ** TEX 1
OF Grady Sizemore CLE 1
OF Magglio Ordonez** DET 5
OF Vernon Wells TOR 2
Note: * Injured, will not participate
** Named as replacement
NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STARS
Starters
Team No.
1B Albert Pujols STL 5
2B Chase Utley PHI 1
3B David Wright NYM 1
SS Jose Reyes NYM 1
C Paul Lo Duca NYM 4
OF Jason Bay PIT 1
OF Carlos Beltran NYM 3
OF Alfonso Soriano WSH 5
Pitchers
Team No.
SP Carlos Zambrano CHC 2
SP Bronson Arroyo CIN 1
SP Brad Penny LAD 1
SP Tom Glavine NYM 7
SP Pedro Martinez* NYM 4
SP Chris Carpenter STL 2
SP Jason Schmidt SF 2
SP Roy Oswalt** HOU 2
RP Brian Fuentes COL 1
RP Derrick Turnbow MIL 1
RP Tom Gordon PHI 3
RP Trevor Hoffman SD 5
Reserves
Team No.
1B Lance Berkman HOU 4
1B Ryan Howard PHI 1
2B Dan Uggla FLA 1
3B Miguel Cabrera FLA 3
3B Freddy Sanchez PIT 1
3B Scott Rolen STL 4
SS Edgar Renteria ATL 5
C Brian McCann ATL 1
OF Andruw Jones ATL 5
OF Matt Holliday COL 1
OF Carlos Lee MIL 2
Note: * Injured, will not participate
** Named as replacement Among millions of baseball fans, hundreds of baseball players, and two baseball managers, a new generation of rising stars has been noticed, appreciated and voted into the 2006 All-Star Game. Familiar names dot the All-Star landscape, as usual. But what strikes one about the rosters for this Midsummer Classic is the presence of a number of players who not that long ago were merely aspiring All-Stars. The presence of all this young, substantial, emerging talent makes the appeal of the 2006 All-Star Game all that much greater. Beyond that, it also says something very encouraging about the future of the sport itself.
FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.
Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. Let's have fun! We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity. We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon. We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way. God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always
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