All-Star balloting races tightening up with only 36 hours left

NEW YORK -- The majority of individual races are still undetermined and getting closer as the Monster All-Star Online Ballot enters the final 36 hours of voting at a record-setting pace with the current total already surpassing the 150 million votes from 2007. Fan voting in this critical stretch run can be done exclusively on MLB.com and all 30 individual club sites until the Monster All-Star Online Ballot Program concludes at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, July 2.

As of the last update the National League's tightest race was for the final starting spot in the outfield with Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers trailing Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs by a mere 32,925 votes. While the final offline votes continue to be tabulated, in the past 48 hours of exclusive online voting Braun has received 41% more online votes than Fukudome in what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting finishes in the history of fan balloting. In addition, Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins continues to hold a slight edge over Houston's Miguel Tejada for the starting shortstop.

In the most recent American League update, there was a mad scramble among six different players for the third and final starting spot in the outfield with Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki leading an entire pack, included Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, J.D. Drew, Johnny Damon and Milton Bradley, that was separated by only 338,475 votes. In the past 48 hours of exclusive online voting, Drew has received 27% more votes than any of the other five outfielders in this race.

Also in the American League, a pair of Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox are vying for the starting spots at catcher and first base with Joe Mauer and Kevin Youkilis holding narrow leads over Jason Varitek and Justin Morneau, respectively. The American League's other tight race is at second base where Boston's Dustin Pedroia maintained his slight edge over Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers.

The 2008 American and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on Sunday, July 6 on the 2008 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Chevy, which will be televised nationally on TBS at 2 p.m. (EDT).