Cruz, Bautista, Jones Battle For Starting Nod In Latest A.L. Update

Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz holds the third American League outfield spot by a slim margin in the second balloting figures for the 83^rd All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 10^th at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.  The second balloting update for the National League will be announced tomorrow afternoon.

In a bid for his first fan-elected start and second All-Star appearance (2009), Cruz has received 1,398,534 votes and is being closely contested by Jose Bautista (1,357,784) of the Toronto Blue Jays and Adam Jones (1,318,091) of the Baltimore Orioles.  Bautista, who set a single-season balloting record in 2011, is seeking his third All-Star appearance (2010-11), while Jones, who hit his 17^th home run of the season in walk-off fashion on Saturday, is seeking his second career Midsummer Classic appearance (2009).  Joining Cruz in the A.L. outfield is his Rangers teammate Josh Hamilton, who continues to lead the A.L. with a total of 3,833,504 votes.  Hamilton, who is trying to become the first outfielder to start in five consecutive All-Star Games since Ichiro Suzuki (2006-10), leads the Majors with 22 home runs and 61 RBI.  Two-time All-Star Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees (2009, 2011) ranks second in the A.L. outfield with 2,033,239 votes.  Granderson, aiming for his second consecutive fan-elected start, is tied for second in the A.L. with 43 runs scored and ranks third with 18 home runs.  David Murphy of the Rangers ranks sixth in the A.L. outfield behind Bautista and Jones with a total of 884,522 votes.

Two-time A.L. All-Star Ian Kinsler (2008, 2010) of the Rangers has garnered 1,920,364 votes as he continues to hold off Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (1,732,359).  Kinsler, who leads the A.L. with 46 runs scored and ranks second with 21 doubles, is trying to become just the third Rangers second baseman to start in the Midsummer Classic (Julio Franco – 1989; Alfonso Soriano – 2004).  He is joined in the infield by teammate Adrian Beltre, who has tallied 1,634,057 votes.  Beltre, who is trailed by six-time All-Star Miguel Cabrera (1,313,063) of the Detroit Tigers, is trying for his third consecutive All-Star nod and first fan-elected start.  No Rangers third baseman has ever been elected to start a Midsummer Classic.  Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2,419,508) has a comfortable lead over Elvis Andrus (1,448,544) of the Rangers as he bids for his 13^th A.L. All-Star selection.  Jeter, who has received the second-highest amount of votes in the A.L. behind Hamilton, has been elected by the fans in each of the previous six seasons.  Tigers first baseman and three-time All-Star Prince Fielder rounds out the A.L. infield with 1,421,786 votes received.  Fielder, who was named the 2011 Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP presented by Chevrolet, is trailed by five-time A.L. All-Star Paul Konerko (1,147,089) of the Chicago White Sox, who leads the Majors with a .365 batting mark.

At designated hitter, a pair of seven-time A.L. All-Stars are engaging in a tight race as David Ortiz (1,758,369) of the Boston Red Sox leads Michael Young (1,396,802) of the Rangers.  Ortiz, who is one of four A.L. players hitting at least .300 with 14 home runs and 30 RBI, is seeking his second consecutive and sixth overall fan-elected start.  Rangers catcher Mike Napoli has received 1,640,160 votes and leads four-time All-Star and 2009 A.L. MVP Joe Mauer (912,997) of the Minnesota Twins, who has overtaken Orioles backstop Matt Wieters (904,425) for second place.  Napoli, who has 11 home runs and 29 RBI on the season, is one of five Rangers players to currently hold a lead in All-Star voting as he vies for his Midsummer Classic debut.

MLB’s All-Star Balloting Program is the largest of its kind in professional sports, and last year produced a record-shattering total of 32.5 million ballots cast.  More than 20 million Firestone All-Star ballots will be distributed at the 30 Major League ballparks, each of which will have 23 dates for balloting, and in approximately 100 Minor League ballparks.  Also, fans around the world can cast their votes for starters up to 25 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 Club web sites – online or via their mobile devices – with the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot.  During the voting period, the All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot will be available in English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese versions of the online ballot and will offer audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually-impaired fans.

Every Major Club began its in-stadium balloting no later than Tuesday, May 8^th.  When the in-stadium phase of balloting concludes on Friday, June 22^nd, fans will have the opportunity to cast their ballots exclusively online at MLB.com, the 30 Club Web sites and their mobile devices until Thursday, June 28^th at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

Firestone, the official tire of MLB, is once again the exclusive sponsor of the 2012 In-Stadium All-Star Balloting Program.  The ballot features an All-Star sweepstakes, in which a winner will be rewarded with a trip for two to MLB All-Star Week, including airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the All-Star Game and other All-Star Week events. 

Scotts, the official lawn care company of MLB, is once again the sponsor of the retail All-Star Balloting Program, which launched on May 4^th in select Lowe’s stores and Chevrolet dealerships across the country.  The Scotts ballot includes an opportunity to enter for a chance to win a baseball field makeover using Scotts products for your community. 

Banco BHD sponsors 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, and at All-Star Balloting terminals across more than 80 branches.  Coors Light provides offline All-Star Balloting in 60 Wal-Mart and Amigo convenience stores throughout Puerto Rico, through June 10^th.

The 2012 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on Sunday, July 1^st on the 2012 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Taco Bell, televised nationally on TBS.  The A.L. All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the N.L. All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters.  The pitchers and reserves for both squads – totaling 25 for the N.L. and 24 for the A.L. – will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers – A.L. skipper Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers and N.L. manager Tony La Russa – in conjunction with Major League Baseball.

Immediately following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters on Sunday, July 1^st, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote presented by Firestone.  Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 5^th.  Now in its eighth year, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on their mobile phones.

The 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 will vote exclusively online at MLB.com via the 2012 MLB.com All-Star Game 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 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)/6:30 p.m. (CDT).  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 or royals.com/asg.

2012 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR BALLOTING UPDATE #2

Monday, June 11^th