MLB and the Cincinnati Reds mark the start of All-Star balloting for baseball's 2015 Midsummer Classic

Major League Baseball today marked the official start of All-Star Balloting for the 86^th All-Star Game, which will be held on Tuesday, July 14^th at Great American Ball Park, the home of the Cincinnati Reds.

MLB's All-Star Balloting Program is the largest of its kind in professional sports. Nearly 160 million ballots have been cast over the past five years, including a record 40.2 million ballots cast in 2012. In addition, over 300 million votes were submitted in 2014.

For the first time, the All-Star Balloting Program will be conducted exclusively online. Beginning today, fans around the world can cast their votes for starters 35 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 Club web sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot. During the voting period, the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot will be available in English and Spanish, and will offer audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually-impaired fans. Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese versions of the online ballot will be available in May. Banco BHD will sponsor online All-Star balloting in the Dominican Republic, making Spanish-language ballots available to fans in the Dominican Republic via LasMayores.com, the official Spanish-language Web site of Major League Baseball.

"As we launch our annual tradition of All-Star fan voting, Major League Baseball and the Reds look forward to the upcoming celebration of the Midsummer Classic in a city known for its enduring baseball history," Baseball Commissioner Robert J. Manfred, Jr. said. "Baseball fans represent the heart of our game, and through All-Star balloting, I am proud to bring the best that our sport has to offer to the great fans and community of Cincinnati this summer."

Details regarding the unveiling of the 2015 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be available in the coming weeks. The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads - totaling 25 for the NL and 24 for the AL - will be determined through a combination of "Player Ballot" choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers - NL skipper Bruce Bochy of the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants and AL manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals.

Following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League's 34-man roster via the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period. Now in its 14^th season with more than 480 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile phones.

This year's final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year's recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy. 

The 2015 All-Star Game will be played at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday, July 14^th. The 86^th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.