Season 36 All-Star Blog

Midseason Classic
The Pine-Tar Season 36 All-Star Game took place last week, where the American League edged out a 5-4 victory over the National League.  Boise LF Willie Tarasco was awarded the Most Valuable Player after his 2-run double in the 8th inning put the AL ahead for good, giving 23 year-old P Richard Huang (Sultans of Swat) the win.  Durham closer Juan Guerrero struck-out two in the 9th inning to earn the save.  Jacksonville 3B Julian Santana (2-run double) and Cincinnati 2B Greg Borland (homerun) put forth a strong effort for the NL in their first career all-star appearance.  In other All-Star weekend festivities, Seattle's Keith Williamson defeated Wichita's Zach Wathan in the finals of the Home Run Derby, and Season 33's #2 draft pick Jamey Mullaney (Tampa Bay) was MVP of the Futures Game.

The All-Star pitching staffs for both leagues were filled with plenty of new faces, as 74% of all pitchers were making their 1st or 2nd career appearance.  Also, the number of All-Star selections per team and per division were not as spread out as in years past.  The NL East division generated the most All-Star selections with 11 (they had 15 last season).  Oklahoma City and Omaha were atop the list of individual teams with the most All-Star selections, even though neither has been to the playoffs in the past 4 seasons.  More information on this season's All-Star rosters is below:

Teams with the most All-Star selections:

Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs - 5

Omaha Oracles - 4

Atlanta Apaches - 4

Jacksonville Juice - 4

Kansas City Yardbirds - 3

New York Sultans of Swat - 3

Syracuse Orange - 3

Nashville Merchants - 3

Salem Volcanoes - 3

Teams with zero All-Star selections:

Dover Dinklebergs

New Orleans Jazz

Colorado Springs Iron Horses

Texas Galveston Wave

San Francisco Journey

All-Stars by Division
NL East - 11

AL East - 9

AL West - 9

NL North - 8

NL West - 8

AL North - 7

AL South - 5

NL South - 3

*Links are posted - click on an individual player's name to open their HBD profile
First Time All-Stars – American League

P - Esteban Mujica (Sultans of Swat)

P - Juan Guerrero (Doormats)

P - David Chantres (Orange)

P - Jumbo Brito (Oracles)

P - Augie Kim (Magnitude)

C - Wallace Duffy (Coursers)

1B - Jose Lopez (Walkers)

3B - Bunny Barber (Orange)

RF - Masao Saitou (Screaming Babies)

DH - Miguel Uribe (Black Sox)

First Time All-Stars – National League

P - Clayton Webster (Juice)

P - Felix Nomo (Tornadoes)

P - Piper Webster (Prairie Dogs)

P - Malcolm Olshan (Juggernauts)

P - Kevin Leonard (Hawkeyes)

P - Doug Castillo (Miracles)

P - Erik Zaun (Prairie Dogs)

P - Yannick Truby (Moneymakers)

2B - Greg Borland (Firestorm)

3B - Julian Santana (Juice)

SS - Brooks Larish (Heaters)

SS - Mark DaVanon (Miracles)

LF - Pat Bryant (Prairie Dogs)

RF - Russell Rucker (Prairie Dogs)

All-Stars Making Their 5th Appearance or Greater
2B - Eugenio Canseco (Patriots) - 8th Appearance
P - Alex James (Merchants) - 7th
P - Yoshinori Zhou (Magnitude) - 7th
SS - Wendell Werth (Merchants) - 7th
P - Wilt Sizemore (Komodo Dragons) - 7th
3B - Keith Williamson (Strikers) - 7th
LF - Vicente Palmeiro (Komodo Dragons) - 7th
RF - Bartolo Ortiz (Apaches) - 7th
SS - Lefty Twitchell (Volcanoes) - 6th
P - Moises Olmedo (Apaches) - 6th
C - Dion Pagnozzi (Thunder) - 5th
2B - Rubby Prieto (Volcanoes) - 5th

All-Stars Who Are 25 Years Old or Younger
P - Richard Huang (Sultans of Swat) - 23
1B - William Nakano (Black Sox) - 24
DH - Miguel Uribe (Black Sox) - 22
P - Felix Nomo (Tornadoes) - 24
P - Malcolm Olshan (Juggernauts) - 23
P - Doug Castillo (Miracles) - 23
C - Zack Wathan (Tornadoes) - 23
3B - Julian Santana (Juice) - 25
SS - Mark DaVanon (Miracles) - 25
CF - Jack Westbrook (ARF ARF ARF ARFs) - 25

Highest Paid All-Stars
P - Yoshinori Zhou (Magnitude) - $20,000,000
P - Rondell Collins (Oracles) - $20,000,000
P - Wilt Sizemore (Komodo Dragons) - $20,000,000
LF - Willie Tarasco (Coursers) - $17,000,000
3B - Keith Williamson (Strikers) - $15,000,000
P - Kevin Leonard (Hawkeyes) - $14,250,000