2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Explained

Year:2003
Visitor:National League
Top1:0
Top2:0
Top3:0
Top4:0
Top5:5
Top6:0
Top7:1
Top8:0
Top9:0
Visitor R:6
Visitor H:11
Visitor E:1
Home:American League
Bot1:0
Bot2:0
Bot3:1
Bot4:0
Bot5:0
Bot6:2
Bot7:1
Bot8:3
Bot9:x
Home R:7
Home H:9
Home E:0
Date:July 15, 2003
Venue:U.S. Cellular Field
City:Chicago, Illinois
Visitormanager:Dusty Baker
Visitormanagerteam:CHC
Homemanager:Mike Scioscia
Homemanagerteam:ANA
Mvp:Garret Anderson
Mvpteam:ANA
Television:Fox (United States)
MLB International (International)
Tv Announcers:Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox)
Gary Thorne and Ken Singleton (MLB International)
Radio:ESPN
Radio Announcers:Dan Shulman and Dave Campbell
Attendance:47,609

The 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 74th midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and celebrated the 70th anniversary of the inaugural All-Star Game played in Chicago, Illinois in 1933.

The game was held on July 15, 2003 at U.S. Cellular Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 7–6, thus awarding an AL team (which was eventually the New York Yankees) home-field advantage in the 2003 World Series. This game was the first All-Star Game to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winning league, a rule that stemmed from a controversial 7–7 tie in the previous year's edition. In the days leading up to the game, Fox advertised it with the tagline: "This time it counts." Subsequent editions altered the slogan to "This one counts" to reflect the new method of determining the World Series' home-field advantage; that arrangement ended with the 2016 edition, where the AL team (which became the Cleveland Indians, now the Cleveland Guardians) also won home-field advantage; the AL would win the next six years, as well as the last four. The winning league had a 9–5 record in the corresponding year's World Series, with the AL going 6–5 in the 11 years it won the All Star Game and the NL going 3–0 in the three years it won the All Star Game.

This All-Star Game marked the seventh All-Star appearance for the Naval Station Great Lakes color guard from Waukegan, Illinois, who this year was joined by police officers from the Kane County Sheriff's Department who presented the Canadian and American flags in the outfield. Both the five-man color guard and the sheriff's department officers accompanied Michael Bublé, who sang O Canada, and Vanessa Carlton, who sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Bublé's performance of "O Canada" was not televised until after the game in the Chicago area, while Carlton's performance was followed by fireworks that shot off the U.S. Cellular Field scoreboard. This was also the last All-Star game to have the stadium's public address announcer announce the all-star rosters and coaches; the game's play-by-play announcer (in this case, Joe Buck) proceeds that custom starting the next year's game and onwards.

Rosters

Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

National League

Starters
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PJason SchmidtGiants1
CJavy LópezBraves3
1BTodd HeltonRockies4
2BJosé VidroExpos3
3BScott RolenCardinals2
SSÉdgar RenteríaCardinals3
OFJim EdmondsCardinals3
OFAlbert PujolsCardinals2
OFGary SheffieldBraves7
DHBarry BondsGiants12
Pitchers
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PArmando BenítezMets1
PKevin BrownDodgers6
PShawn ChacónRockies1
PÉric GagnéDodgers2
PRuss OrtizBraves1
PMark PriorCubs1
PJohn SmoltzBraves6
PBilly WagnerAstros3
PMike WilliamsPirates2
PWoody WilliamsCardinals1
PDontrelle WillisMarlins1
PRandy WolfPhillies1
PKerry WoodCubs1
Reserves
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CPaul Lo DucaDodgers1
1BRichie SexsonBrewers2
2BLuis CastilloMarlins2
2BMarcus GilesBraves1
3BAaron BooneReds1
3BMike LowellMarlins2
SSRafael FurcalBraves1
OFLuis GonzalezDiamondbacks4
OFGeoff JenkinsBrewers1
OFAndruw JonesBraves3
OFRondell WhitePadres1
OFPreston WilsonRockies1

American League

Starters
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PEsteban LoaizaWhite Sox1
CJorge PosadaYankees4
1BCarlos DelgadoBlue Jays2
2BAlfonso SorianoYankees2
3BTroy GlausAngels3
SSAlex RodriguezRangers7
OFManny RamirezRed Sox7
OFHideki MatsuiYankees1
OFIchiro SuzukiMariners3
DHEdgar MartínezMariners7
Pitchers
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
PLance CarterDevil Rays1
PRoger ClemensYankees9
PBrendan DonnellyAngels1
PKeith FoulkeAthletics1
PEddie GuardadoTwins2
PRoy HalladayBlue Jays2
PShigetoshi HasegawaMariners1
PMike MacDougalRoyals1
PJamie MoyerMariners1
PMark MulderAthletics1
PCC SabathiaIndians1
PBarry ZitoAthletics2
Reserves
PositionPlayerTeamAll-Star Games
CRamón HernándezAthletics1
CJason VaritekRed Sox1
1BJason GiambiYankees4
1BMike SweeneyRoyals4
2BBret BooneMariners3
3BHank BlalockRangers1
SSNomar GarciaparraRed Sox5
OFMelvin MoraOrioles1
OFMagglio OrdóñezWhite Sox4
OFGarret AndersonAngels2
OFVernon WellsBlue Jays1
DHCarl EverettWhite Sox2
DHDmitri YoungTigers1

Notes

Game

Coaching staffs

National League
CoachPositionTeam
Manager Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates manager
Tony La Russa St. Louis Cardinals manager
Bench coach Chicago Cubs
Pitching coach
Hitting coach
Bullpen coach
First base coach
Third base coach
American League
CoachPositionTeam
Manager Anaheim Angels
Chicago White Sox manager
Minnesota Twins manager
Bench coach Anaheim Angels
Pitching coach
Hitting coach
Bullpen coach
First base coach
Third base coach

Umpires

Home Plate Tim McClelland
First Base Larry Young
Second Base Gary Darling
Third Base Gary Cederstrom
Left Field Mark Carlson
Right Field Bill Welke

Starting lineups

National LeagueAmerican League
OrderPlayerTeamPositionOrderPlayerTeamPosition
1Édgar RenteríaCardinalsSS1Ichiro SuzukiMarinersRF
2Jim EdmondsCardinalsCF2Alfonso SorianoYankees2B
3Albert PujolsCardinalsLF3Carlos DelgadoBlue Jays1B
4Barry BondsGiantsDH4Alex RodriguezRangersSS
5Gary SheffieldBravesRF5Garret AndersonAngelsLF
6Todd HeltonRockies1B6Edgar MartínezMarinersDH
7Scott RolenCardinals3B7Hideki MatsuiYankeesCF
8Javy LópezBravesC8Troy GlausAngels3B
9José VidroExpos2B9Jorge PosadaYankeesC
Jason SchmidtGiantsPEsteban LoaizaWhite SoxP

Game summary

Starters Esteban Loaiza and Jason Schmidt were sharp early on, each throwing a scoreless couple of innings to start the game. In the third, Roger Clemens relieved Loaiza and threw a scoreless inning himself. Randy Wolf could not do the same, allowing Carlos Delgado to single home Ichiro Suzuki with the game's first run, and a 1–0 lead for the AL.

The lead would stand until the fifth inning, when Todd Helton gave the NL the lead with a two-run homer off Shigetoshi Hasegawa. The National League would go on to score three more runs that inning, on the strength of a two-run double from Andruw Jones and an RBI single from Albert Pujols, giving the NL a 5–1 lead.

In the sixth, Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer off Woody Williams to bring the AL back within two. Andruw Jones would get one of those runs back the next inning by hitting a solo shot off Mark Mulder. Jason Giambi got the run right back with a solo shot off Billy Wagner in the seventh.

In the eighth came Éric Gagné, who did not blow any saves in the 2003 regular season. The All-Star Game would prove to be the one blemish on his record for the year. Staked to a 6–4 lead, Gagne gave up a one-out double to Garret Anderson, who was replaced by pinch-runner Melvin Mora. Vernon Wells singled Mora home to make it a one-run game. Then Hank Blalock hit a dramatic, two-out go-ahead home run to put the AL up 7–6.

Keith Foulke came in the ninth to try to earn the save. Foulke closed the door and set the side down 1-2-3. Garret Anderson, who batted 3–4 with a double, home run and two RBI, was awarded the game's MVP honors, a night after winning the 2003 Home Run Derby.

Home Run Derby

U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago—A.L. 47, N.L. 39
PlayerTeamRound 1SemisFinalsTotals
Garret AndersonAngels76922
Albert PujolsCardinals414826
Jason GiambiYankees1211 - 23
Jim EdmondsCardinals44 - 8
Gary SheffieldBraves4 -  - 4
Carlos DelgadoBlue Jays2 -  - 2
Richie SexsonBrewers1 -  - 1
Bret BooneMariners0 -  - 0

Notes

External links