Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote underway only on MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Online fan voting for the final roster spot on each league's All-StarTeam conducted exclusively on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, is in fullswing with the three leading candidates in each league separated by only a few percentage points.In the opening 24 hours of balloting, more than 11 million votes have been cast, a record-settingvote total for the first day of voting and an increase of 115% compared to the same time period in2007.

Tampa Bay Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria leads the very close race among the fivecandidates for the final roster spot on the 2008 American League All-Star Team, followed byJermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox; Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees; Brian Roberts ofthe Baltimore Orioles; and Jose Guillen of the Kansas City Royals.

On the National League side, Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers currently holds a small leadover the other four players on the ballot for the final roster spot, followed closely by David Wrightof the New York Mets; Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies; Aaron Rowand of the San FranciscoGiants; and Carlos Lee of the Houston Astros.

The seventh annual Monster All-Star Game Final Vote ballot commenced exclusively on MLB.comat 3:00 p.m. EDT yesterday and more than 11 million votes have already been cast in the opening24 hours of fan voting (through 3:00 pm EDT on Monday, July 7, 2008). The online voting willcontinue until 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 10, 2008.

In addition, fans will again be able to cast their votes via their mobile phones by texting the word"Vote" to 36197 to receive the Monster All-Star Game Final Vote candidates. In Canada, fansshould text the word "Vote" to 88555.

The Monster All-Star Game Final Vote program has seen nearly 80 million votes cast since itsinception in 2002, including a record 23 million last year when fans chose Hideki Okajima of theBoston Red Sox and Chris Young of the San Diego Padres. Previous winners of the Monster All-Star Game Final Vote include: A.J. Pierzynski (AL, 2006); Nomar Garciaparra (NL, 2006); ScottPodsednik (AL, 2005); Oswalt (NL, 2005); Hideki Matsui (AL, 2004); Bobby Abreu (NL, 2004);Jason Varitek (AL, 2003); Geoff Jenkins (NL, 2003); Johnny Damon (AL, 2002); and AndruwJones (NL, 2002).