The 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 69th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 7, 1998, at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, the home of the Colorado Rockies of the National League. The first All-Star contest played in the Mountain Time Zone, the game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 13-8. It remains the highest-scoring All-Star Game in MLB history. Also, it was the last MLB All Star Game not to be held on the 2nd or 3rd Tuesday of July, it was held on the 1st Tuesday of July, and thus the earliest ASG held since then.
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| Date | July 7, 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Coors Field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Denver, Colorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Roberto Alomar (BAL) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 51,267 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonial first pitch | Elias Kurts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | NBC (United States) MLB International (International) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Bob Costas and Joe Morgan (NBC) Gary Thorne and Ken Singleton (MLB International) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Charley Steiner and Kevin Kennedy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The pregame ceremony honored the United States Air Force Academy who provided the five-man color guard, flag presentations, and, at the end of country music singer Faith Hill's performance of the U.S. National Anthem, the flyover ceremonies. Hill's National Anthem performance was preceded by actress Gloria Reuben's performance of The Canadian National Anthem.
Twelve-year-old Elias Kurts was given the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, the first "non-celebrity" so honored.
Rosters
editPlayers in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Game
editUmpires
edit| Home Plate | Ed Montague (NL) |
| First Base | Derryl Cousins (AL) |
| Second Base | Brian Gorman (NL) |
| Third Base | Rick Reed (AL) |
| Left Field | Rich Rieker (NL) |
| Right Field | Tim McClelland (AL) |
Starting lineups
edit| American League | National League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Player | Team | Position | Order | Player | Team | Position |
| 1 | Kenny Lofton | Indians | LF | 1 | Craig Biggio | Astros | 2B |
| 2 | Roberto Alomar | Orioles | 2B | 2 | Tony Gwynn | Padres | RF |
| 3 | Ken Griffey Jr. | Mariners | CF | 3 | Mark McGwire | Cardinals | 1B |
| 4 | Juan González | Rangers | RF | 4 | Barry Bonds | Giants | LF |
| 5 | Jim Thome | Indians | 1B | 5 | Chipper Jones | Braves | 3B |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | Mariners | SS | 6 | Mike Piazza | Mets | C |
| 7 | Iván Rodríguez | Rangers | C | 7 | Larry Walker | Rockies | CF |
| 8 | Cal Ripken Jr. | Orioles | 3B | 8 | Walt Weiss | Braves | SS |
| 9 | David Wells | Yankees | P | 9 | Greg Maddux | Braves | P |
Source:[2]
Game summary
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 19 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| National League | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Bartolo Colón (1-0) LP: Ugueth Urbina (0-1) Home runs: AL: Alex Rodriguez (1), Roberto Alomar (1) NL: Barry Bonds (1) Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home Run Derby
editThe Home Run Derby was won by Ken Griffey Jr., who did not decide to enter the competition until hearing boos from fans during batting practice.[3]
| Coors Field, Denver | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Finals | Total[c] |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | Seattle | 8 | 8 | 3 | 19 |
| Jim Thome | Cleveland | 7 | 8 | 2 | 17 |
| Vinny Castilla | Colorado | 7 | 5 | – | 12 |
| Rafael Palmeiro | Baltimore | 7 | 3 | – | 10 |
| Moisés Alou | Houston | 7[d] | – | – | 7 |
| Javy López | Atlanta | 5 | – | – | 5 |
| Alex Rodriguez | Seattle | 5 | – | – | 5 |
| Mark McGwire | St. Louis | 4 | – | – | 4 |
| Damion Easley | Detroit | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| Chipper Jones | Atlanta | 1 | – | – | 1 |
Source:[4]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c Player declined or was unable to play.
- ^ Shaw was selected to the All-Star Game while a member of the Cincinnati Reds, then was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 4.[1]
- ^ Competition results were based on the individual totals during each round.
- ^ Alou did not advance to the second round based on having a lower number of regular season home runs.
References
edit- ^ "Jeff Shaw". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ "American League 13, National League 8". Retrosheet. July 7, 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ "Late entry Griffey wins Home Run Derby". North County Times. Oceanside, California. AP. July 7, 1998. p. C-3. Retrieved June 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Correction". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. July 8, 1998. p. D2. Retrieved June 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
Further reading
edit| External videos | |
|---|---|
 1998 All-Star Game on YouTube |
- Cohen, Alan. "July 7, 1998: AL hitters erupt for 13 runs in highest-scoring All-Star Game in Denver". SABR. Retrieved June 19, 2022.