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Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates has moved into the top spot among outfielders and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who had another tremendous week at the plate, preserved the lead at his position in National League balloting results for the 77th All-Star Game, to be played Tuesday, July 11th at Pittsburgh's PNC Park.
For the fourth consecutive season, the outcome of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game will impact postseason play, as the team representing the winning league in this year's Midsummer Classic will have home field advantage in the 2006 World Series.
Bay, who has consistently risen through the ranks each week from outside the top 15 N.L. outfield vote-getters in the first balloting results, has amassed the second highest amount of votes in the National league with 1,706,105. Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets is now in the number two slot among outfielders, with a tally of 1,537,849 votes. Alfonso Soriano of the Washington Nationals now sits in third with a vote total of 1,484,845, leading Ken Griffey, Jr. (1,366,906) of the Cincinnati Reds and Andruw Jones (1,250,129) of the Atlanta Braves.
Reyes, who for the second consecutive week has earned honors as the Bank of America Presents the National League Player of the Week, remained atop shortstops with 1,068,105 votes. The Mets continue to hold four of the eight starting positions, with catcher Paul Lo Duca (1,281,767) and third baseman David Wright (1,386,584). The N.L.'s leading write-in candidate is Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Freddy Sanchez with 597,249 votes, good for fourth place among third basemen.
For the fifth consecutive week, Albert Pujols of the Cardinals is the National League's leading votegetter with 2,206,409. He leads all N.L. first basemen by more than 1.25 million votes. Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets is second with 946,093 and Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers is in the third spot with 694,489 votes. Chase Utley (1,236,143) of the Phillies leads second basemen.
The Major League Baseball All-Star Balloting Program is the largest balloting program in professional sports. The fan balloting program will determine the eight position players from each League who will start the 77th All-Star Game. Ameriquest is sponsoring the 20 million ballots that were distributed at the 29 U.S. Major League ballparks and the 1.9 million ballots that were distributed to 117 Minor League Baseball Clubs that are in-season during the balloting period. MLB International rightsholder Rogers Personal TV is sponsoring in-stadium balloting at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The in-stadium program concluded at Major League and Minor League ballparks. Monster online balloting concludes on MLB.com and the 30 Club Web sites on Thursday, June 29th at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).
Pepsi, which has been the title sponsor of the retail balloting program since 1997, will again joined by Frito-Lay for 2006 Major League Baseball Retail All-Star Balloting, providing additional exposure for the entire balloting program. Pepsi and Frito-Lay, both divisions of PepsiCo Inc., distributed over 13 million Major League Baseball All-Star ballots exclusively at more than 3,300 Wal-Mart stores, where balloting began on May 8th and ended on June 10th across the United States.
The 2006 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Selection Show Presented By Chevrolet on ESPN live at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 2nd. The show will announce the 16 elected starters, as determined by the fan balloting program, and the 46 pitchers and reserves, as determined by the player ballot, the two All-Star Team managers - American League manager Ozzie Guillen of the Chicago White Sox and National League manager Phil Garner of the Houston Astros - and Major League Baseball.
Immediately following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will have the opportunity to select the final position player for each League's 32-man roster at MLB.com. The 2006 Monster All-Star Final Vote will provide fans the opportunity to cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period.
Also, for the second year, fans will be able to vote for their Final Vote selections on their mobile phone. Both winners of the Monster All-Star Final Vote will be announced after the voting has concluded on Thursday, July 6th at 6:00 p.m. (EDT).
The 77th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pre-game ceremonies beginning at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). ESPN Radio will provide exclusive, national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage and MLB Radio will provide exclusive play-byplay coverage of the game on the Internet. XM Satellite Radio will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game.
Remaining announcements will be made on the following dates:
Tuesday, June 27 AL Balloting Release #5
Sunday, July 2 NL/AL Starters & Reserves Announced
NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STAR BALLOTING UPDATE
June 26, 2006
First Base
1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals 2,206,409
2. Carlos Delgado, Mets 946,093
3. Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers 694,489
4. Sean Casey, Pirates 675,477
5. Lance Berkman, Astros 665,882
Second Base
1. Chase Utley, Phillies 1,236,143
2. Craig Biggio, Astros 1,097,119
3. Jose Castillo, Pirates 1,051,990
4. Jeff Kent, Dodgers 483,513
5. Marcus Giles, Braves 417,997
Third Base
1. David Wright, Mets 1,386,584
2. Scott Rolen, Cardinals 1,041,250
3. Morgan Ensberg, Astros 687,229
4. Freddy Sanchez, Pirates 597,249
5. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins 561,601
Shortstop
1. Jose Reyes, Mets 1,068,105
2. Jack Wilson, Pirates 986,117
3. David Eckstein, Cardinals 875,209
4. Edgar Renteria, Braves 784,030
5. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 624,538
Catcher
1. Paul Lo Duca, Mets 1,281,767
2. Mike Piazza, Padres 880,948
3. Brad Ausmus, Astros 724,172
4. Yadier Molina, Cardinals 692,302
5. Brian McCann, Braves 516,659
Outfield
1. Jason Bay, Pirates 1,706,105
2. Carlos Beltran, Mets 1,537,849
3. Alfonso Soriano, Nationals 1,484,845
4. Ken Griffey Jr., Reds 1,366,906
5. Andruw Jones, Braves 1,250,129
6. Jim Edmonds, Cardinals 863,775
7. Bobby Abreu, Phillies 780,960
8. Carlos Lee, Brewers 668,581
9. Barry Bonds, Giants 639,755
10. Aaron Rowand, Phillies 602,813
11. Adam Dunn, Reds 479,532
12. Cliff Floyd, Mets 461,058
13. Xavier Nady, Mets 459,315
14. Willy Taveras, Astros 432,914
15. Matt Holliday, Rockies 416,230
