All-Star Game Online Ballot on MLB.com Concludes Tonight With Several Spots Up For Grabs

A number
of individual races are still too close to call as the Monster.com 2007 online
ballot program for the 78th All-Star Game enters the final 12 hours of its
critical stretch run.

The
Midsummer Classic will be played Tuesday, July 10, at
San
Francisco’s

AT&T

Park, and fans have a
real opportunity to make a difference in the selection process by casting their
votes for starters up to 25 times with the Monster.com 2007 All-Star Online
Ballot Program at MLB.com and all 30 individual team sites until 11:59 p.m.
(EDT) tonight. The Monster.com 2007 All-Star Online Ballot is available in
English, Spanish and Japanese.

As of the
latest update, the National League’s tightest race has Giants outfielder Barry
Bonds slightly behind Alfonso Soriano for the third and final starting
outfielder spot. In addition, there are two other close races as Jose Reyes of
the Mets holds a slim lead over

Milwaukee’s
J.J. Hardy for the starting shortstop spot and Russell Martin of the Dodgers
maintains a slight advantage over Paul LoDuca of the Mets for the starting
catcher position.

In the
American League’s closest race, Detroit’s Ivan Rodriguez holds a slight lead
over Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees for the starting catcher’s spot,
while Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Boston’s Jason Varitek are both still in
striking distance. Also,

Detroit’s
Placido Polanco is narrowly ahead of the Yankees Robinson Cano for starting
honors at second base. The race for the final two starting outfield positions
is also tight with Magglio Ordonez of the Tigers, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners
and Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox each vying for those spots.

The 2007
American League and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on Sunday,
July 1st on the 2007 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Chevrolet,
which will be televised nationally on TBS at approximately 4:00 p.m. (EDT),
immediately following the 1:00 p.m. (EDT) game between the Atlanta Braves and
Florida Marlins.

Immediately
following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star
rosters, fans will have the opportunity to select the final position player for
each League’s 32-man roster at MLB.com. The Monster.com 2007 All-Star Final
Vote will provide fans the opportunity to cast their votes from a list of five
players from each League over a four-day voting period.

For the
third consecutive year, fans will be able to vote for their Final Vote
selections on their mobile phone. Both winners of the Monster.com 2007 All-Star
Final Vote will be announced after the voting has concluded on Thursday, July
5th. Fans will once again have the opportunity to participate in the official
voting for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet at the
78th All-Star Game via the Monster.com 2007 All-Star Game MVP Vote on MLB.com.