Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox

 

 

For Immediate Release

July 5, 2009

 

SIX RED SOX PLAYERS SELECTED TO

2009 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR TEAM

 

BOSTON, MA – The Boston Red Sox had six players selected to play for the American League in the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will take place on Tuesday, July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

 

The complete American and National League teams were announced today by Major League Baseball.

 

The six All-Stars include two starters elected in fan balloting: outfielder Jason Bay and second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Voted to the squad by players, managers and coaches were right-handed pitchers Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon. Right-hander Tim Wakefield and first baseman Kevin Youkilis were selected by manager Joe Maddon. No other Major League team had more than four All-Stars named.   

 

Bay, who was elected to his third All-Star game, led all A.L. outfielders with 4,087,450 votes. He was also the starting right fielder for the National League in the 2006 contest in Pittsburgh and was a reserve in 2005. It marks the 10^th straight season that a Red Sox outfielder has been elected. Bay will be the 13^th different Red Sox player to start an All-Star game in the outfield.

 

Pedroia received 3,404,384 votes to beat out Texas’ Ian Kinsler (3,331,298) and earn his second All-Star selection. He would join Bobby Doerr (1946-50) as the only Red Sox second basemen ever to start the All-Star game in consecutive seasons.

 

Beckett was named an All-Star for the second time in his career, finishing fifth among A.L. starting pitchers in the vote by players, managers and coaches. He earned the win for the A.L. with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief in the 2007 Mid-Summer Classic in San Francisco.

 

Papelbon is on the A.L. squad for the fourth consecutive year and is the third Boston player to ever be selected an All-Star in each of his first four full big league seasons, joining Frank Malzone (4 from 1957-60) and Fred Lynn (6 from 1975-80). He placed second in the player/manager/coach vote behind Minnesota’s Joe Nathan.

 

Wakefield earned an All-Star selection for the first time in his 17-year Major League career.  At 42, he is the oldest player to receive the honor for the first time since Satchel Paige at 46 years old in 1952. Jamie Moyer (40 in 2003) and Connie Marrero (40 in 1951) are the only other first-time All-Stars at 40 years or older. Carl Yastrzemski is the only Red Sox player ever to appear in an All-Star game at 42 years or older, doing so in 1982 (42) and 1983 (43).

 

Youkilis will be appearing in his second straight All-Star Game having started at first base in 2008.  He finished second in the fan voting this year with 3,069,906 votes, behind New York’s Mark Teixeira (3,309,050).

 

ALL-STAR NOTES: The Red Sox and Yankees are the only A.L. teams with more than one starter this season…Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield are the sixth pair of Red Sox starting pitchers to be named to the same All-Star team, the first since Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez did it in 2002…The feat was also accomplished in 1968 (Gary Bell and Jose Santiago), 1956 (Tom Brewer and Frank Sullivan), 1946 (Dave Ferriss and Mickey Harris) and 1943 (Tex Hughson and Oscar Judd).

 

— RED SOX —