2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Date	July 13, 2004
Venue	Minute Maid Park
City	Houston, Texas
Managers	Joe Torre (NYY); Jack McKeon (FLA);
MVP	Alfonso Soriano (TEX)
Attendance	41,886
Ceremonial first pitch	Muhammad Ali
Television	Fox (United States); MLB International (International)
TV announcers	Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox); Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman and Dave Campbell
	← 2003; Major League Baseball All-Star Game; 2005 →;

The 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 75th edition of the midseason exhibition baseball game between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 13, 2004, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, the home of the Houston Astros of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 9–4, thus awarding the AL home-field advantage in the 2004 World Series.

Rosters

Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Notes

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 7:35 pm (CDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
American League	6	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	9	14	0
National League	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	1
WP: Mark Mulder (1–0) LP: Roger Clemens (0–1) Home runs: AL: Manny Ramírez (1), Alfonso Soriano (1), David Ortiz (1) NL: None

The Canadian national anthem was sung by The Tragically Hip lead vocalist Gord Downie. The American national anthem was sung by American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino.

Minute Maid Park, Houston—A.L. 47, N.L. 41
Player	Team	Round 1	Semis	Finals	Total
Miguel Tejada	Baltimore	7	15	5	27
Lance Berkman	Houston	7	10	4	21
Rafael Palmeiro	Baltimore	9	5	–	14
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	8	3	–	11
Sammy Sosa	Chicago (N)	5	–	–	5
Jim Thome	Philadelphia	4	–	–	4
Hank Blalock	Texas	3	–	–	3
David Ortiz	Boston	3	–	–	3

Jack McKeon became the oldest manager to manage an All-Star game after becoming the oldest manager to manage a World Series in 2003 with the Florida Marlins.
Roger Clemens gave up six runs in one inning for the first time in his major-league career.
In the top of the first inning, the American League hit for the cycle for the first time in All-Star Game history.
This was the first All-Star Game to be broadcast in high-definition.
This was also the first All-Star Game in which Joe Buck, the play-by-play announcer for Fox, announced the coaches, reserves, managers and starters for both the American League and National League.
Carlos Beltrán was originally selected to start in the outfield for the AL and represent the Kansas City Royals, but was traded to Houston a few weeks before this game, but still played in the game as a defensive substitution for Lance Berkman. Beltrán was on the roster because original starter Ken Griffey Jr. was hurt and Beltrán took his spot as a substitute.
This was also the last All-Star Game for Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, as he would retire before the 2005 season.
The day after hosting the game, the Astros fired manager Jimy Williams and replaced him with Phil Garner.^[1]