Disgruntled Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers was selected on Sunday for a new-look MLB All-Star game that has 11 first-time starters and four from the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Rogers was picked for the American League team two days after he was suspended for 20 games and fined US$50,000 for an angry fit that sent a television cameraman to a hospital and prompted a police investigation.
Rogers, who has mostly refused to speak with reporters this year, gets a US$50,000 bonus for making the All-Star team. Because he asked the players' union to appeal the penalty, he will be allowed to participate in the July 12 game at Detroit, MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said. Rogers has not decided whether he will go, according to Rangers spokesman Rich Rice.
"He was voted in by the players. He appealed his suspension and the league will not hear it until after the All-Star game," said Boston's Terry Francona, the AL manager. "I abided by the process."
Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee and Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts, who lead their leagues in batting average, were among 11 players elected to start for the first time, tying the record set in 1976, the commissioner's office said.
Among the perennial All-Stars missing this year because of injuries or substandard seasons are Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Derek Jeter wasn't picked but could be voted in as the final AL player through Internet balloting.
Boston became the first team with four starters since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds had five, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"I think it's great because last year there was nothing but Yankees in the clubhouse," Red Sox DH David Ortiz said, jokingly.
The National League champion Cardinals have six All-Stars, more than any other team and the most for St. Louis since 1959.
"There could be more All-Stars in this group," Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols said. "There's a lot of guys we left behind because there's no room."
Also elected by fans to start for the first time in the AL were Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, outfielder Johnny Damon and Ortiz; Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira; and Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada.
"Thank you very much for overlooking the hair," the long-haired Damon joked.
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was elected to his sixth straight start and eighth overall, and his 2.25 million-vote edge over Boston's Bill Mueller was the largest winning margin. Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez was elected to his seventh consecutive start. Rodriguez and Ramirez will be making their ninth appearances.
Rodriguez will be joined by only two of his Yankees teammates on the AL team, reliever Mariano Rivera and outfielder Gary Sheffield. The Yankees have not had as few as three All-Stars since 1996, but Jeter and Hideki Matsui are joined by Minnesota's Torii Hunter, Chicago's Scott Podsednik and Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford on the list for the final AL berth.
Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero also was elected to start the game, which for the third straight year will determine home-field advantage in the World Series.
All three NL outfielders were elected to start for the first time -- Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu, the New York Mets' Carlos Beltran and St. Louis' Jim Edmonds -- as was Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein.
New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza was elected to his 11th start, surpassing Johnny Bench and Ivan Rodriguez for the most among catchers. It will be Piazza's 12th trip overall.
Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent and St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen also were chosen to start for the NL.
Ortiz had the most votes of any player, 4.14 million, and Lee topped NL players at 3.56 million.
Houston's Roger Clemens and the Mets' Pedro Martinez, who spent years squaring off as Yankees-Red Sox rivals, are teammates for only the second time. In 1998, each was a member of the AL team that won 13-8 at Colorado.
Roberts, hitting .360 going in Sunday, and Tejada give the Orioles both starting middle infielders on the AL team for the first time since Cal Ripken Jr. and Roberto Alomar in 1996.
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