The 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 76th playing of the midseason exhibition

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

between the all-stars of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL), the two leagues comprising

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. The game was held on July 12, 2005 at

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, the Tigers had played at the ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, the home of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

of the American League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 7–5, thus awarding an AL team (which eventually came to be the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

)

home-field advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to g ...

in the

2005 World Series The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...

. In this game Rawlings first previewed the Coolflo batting helmets.

Rosters

Players in ''italics'' have since been inducted into the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

National League

American League

Notes * Player declined or was unable to play. * Player replaced vacant spot on roster. * Player was voted onto roster via the

All-Star Final Vote The All-Star Final Vote was an annual Internet and text message ballot by Major League Baseball (MLB) fans to elect the final player for each team that participates in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, after all other selections were made ...

Managers

: ''

Tony LaRussa Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland At ...

Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox fo ...

Game

Umpires

Starting lineups

Game summary

A superchoir consisting of three choirs from

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, sang "

O Canada "O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...

", the Canadian National Anthem. Then, a moment of silence for the victims of the July 7 London bombings, which took place a few days before the game, followed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Brass Players' performance of "

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

", the national anthem of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

sang ''

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

,'' the U.S. National Anthem. The colors presentation was by the

Camp Grayling Camp Grayling is a military training facility located near Grayling, Michigan, primarily in Crawford County, and spread over three counties. Camp Grayling is the main training facility for the Michigan National Guard and is the largest US National ...

color guard, accompanied by

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

ROTC officers who presented the flags in the outfield. In the first inning, starters

Mark Buehrle Mark Alan Buehrle (; born March 23, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Chicago White Sox, playing twelve seasons for the team and winning the World S ...

and

Chris Carpenter Christopher John Carpenter (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012. A Cy Young Award win ...

each induced a double play, from

Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Fra ...

and

Manny Ramírez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with ...

respectively, to end early threats. The American League would score in the bottom of the second, when the game's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Miguel Tejada Miguel Odalis Tejada ( Tejeda; born May 25, 1974) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for six teams, most notably the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles, before ...

, crushed a shot off

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

to give the AL a 1–0 lead. The AL would score two more in the third, on the strength of a

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican-American former designated hitter (DH) and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played in the American League (AL) from 1997 to 2016, primarily wit ...

RBI single, and an RBI groundout by Tejada, his second RBI in as many innings. The NL wasted a scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth, when with two runners on,

Aramis Ramírez Aramis Nin Ramírez (; born June 25, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman, who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers. He was named an All-Sta ...

grounded into a double play to end that threat. In the bottom of that inning,

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began his ...

hit a broken-bat, bloop single to score two, but was then picked off first base by

Liván Hernández Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (; born February 20, 1975) is a Cuban-born former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. Over a 17-year career, he played for nine different teams and was named to two Major League Baseball All-S ...

. Then, in the bottom of the sixth,

Mark Teixeira Mark Charles Teixeira ( ; born April 11, 1980), nicknamed "Tex", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels of Anahei ...

, a switch-hitter, hit an opposite field, two-run homer off

Dontrelle Willis Dontrelle Wayne Willis (born January 12, 1982), nicknamed "The D-Train", is an American former left-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinn ...

, his first home run off a left-hander that season, opening the AL's lead to 7–0. During the

seventh-inning stretch In baseball in the United States and Canada, the seventh-inning stretch is a long-standing tradition that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of a game. Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs and sometimes w ...

, Brian McKnight sang ''God Bless America''. The NL finally got on the board in the next inning, when

Andruw Jones Andruw Rudolf Jones (; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. Jones also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, ...

launched a two-run shot just inside the foul pole off

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

to close the NL to within five. They scored another run in the eighth, when

Moisés Alou Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré (; ; born July 3, 1966) is a Dominican-American former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the National League. In 1,942 career games, Alou had a batting average of .303 with 2,134 hits, ...

scored on an RBI forceout by

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

. In the top of the ninth, Luis Gonzalez scored Andruw Jones with a double off of Baltimore closer

B.J. Ryan Robert Victor "B. J." Ryan Jr. (born December 28, 1975) is an American baseball coach and former relief pitcher. He played college baseball at Louisiana, where he played for coach Tony Robichaux in 1997 and 1998. He also played in Major League Ba ...

, and then scored himself on an RBI groundout by

Carlos Lee Carlos Noriel Lee (born June 20, 1976), nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional baseball first baseman and left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999–2012 with the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, ...

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most ...

then came on to stop the NL's potential rally. Rivera struck out

Morgan Ensberg Morgan Paul Ensberg (born August 26, 1975) is an American former infielder in Major League Baseball. Ensberg bats and throws right-handed. He was previously a member of the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees. From 2011-12 he ...

to end the threat, and the game, securing a 7–5 win for the AL. Hall-of-Famer and former Tigers outfielder

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kal ...

joined the

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

ceremonies.

Home Run Derby

In this event, the eight competitors each came from a different nation. This format dovetailed with the announcement of the launch of the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...

the week before, as of the following year.

Footnotes and references

External links

All-Star Game Home PageHome Run DerbyJuly 12, 2005 All-Star Game at Comerica Park Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com
{{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

Baseball in Detroit Sports competitions in Detroit

Major League Baseball All Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

2005 in sports in Michigan July 2005 sports events in the United States