The 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 73rd playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues that make up Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 9, 2002 at Miller Park, now named American Family Field, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers of the NL. The game controversially ended with a 7–7 tie due to both teams running out of available pitchers after 11 innings.
In an attempt to prevent future ties, a rule change was made in 2003 to award home field advantage in the World Series to the league that won the All Star game. In 2017 that rule was eliminated and home field advantage was instead awarded to the team with the higher winning percentage.
Since 2022, games can end in a tie after nine innings, with a Home Run Derby-like swing-off consisting of three rounds, three players per league, and three swings per player for their league's home run total to determine the winner of the All-Star Game. The 2025 game was the second All-Star Game to officially end in a tie of 6–6 after nine innings, with the National League won the Home Run Derby-like swing-off tiebreaker at 4–3.
No player was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award due to the game ending in a tie. The roster selection for the 2002 game marked the inaugural All-Star Final Vote competition (then known as "The All-Star 30th Man" competition). Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones represented the American and National Leagues as a result of this contest.
Rosters Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Final roster spot Player Team Pos. Player Team Pos. American League National LeagueJohnny DamonBOSCFAndruw JonesATLCFJim ThomeCLE1BBrian GilesPITRFEric ChavezOAK3BLarry WalkerCOLRFMagglio OrdóñezCHWRFAlbert PujolsSTL1BDarin ErstadANACFRyan KleskoSD1B
American League StartersPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesPDerek LoweRed Sox2CJorge PosadaYankees31BJason GiambiYankees32BAlfonso SorianoYankees13BShea HillenbrandRed Sox1SSAlex RodriguezRangers6OFManny RamírezRed Sox6OFTorii HunterTwins1OFIchiro SuzukiMariners2
PitchersPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesPMark BuehrleWhite Sox1PRoy HalladayBlue Jays1PPedro MartínezRed Sox6PFreddy GarcíaMariners2PEddie GuardadoTwins1PMariano RiveraYankees5PKazuhiro SasakiMariners2PUgueth UrbinaRed Sox2PBarry ZitoAthletics1
ReservesPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesCA. J. PierzynskiTwins11BPaul KonerkoWhite Sox11BMike SweeneyRoyals33BTony BatistaOrioles23BRobin VenturaYankees2SSNomar GarciaparraRed Sox4SSDerek JeterYankees5SSMiguel TejadaAthletics1SSOmar VizquelIndians3OFGarret AndersonAngels1OFJohnny DamonRed Sox1OFRobert FickTigers1OFRandy WinnDevil Rays1
ManagerManagerTeamJoe Torre Yankees
CoachesCoachTeamMike Scioscia AngelsCharlie Manuel Indians
National League StartersPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesPCurt SchillingDiamondbacks5CMike PiazzaMets101BTodd HeltonRockies32BJosé VidroExpos23BScott RolenPhillies1SSJimmy RollinsPhillies2OFBarry BondsGiants11OFVladimir GuerreroExpos4OFSammy SosaCubs6
PitchersPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesPÉric GagnéDodgers1PTom GlavineBraves8PTrevor HoffmanPadres4PByung-hyun KimDiamondbacks1PRandy JohnsonDiamondbacks9PMatt MorrisCardinals2PRobb NenGiants3PVicente PadillaPhillies1POdalis PérezDodgers1PMike RemlingerBraves1PJohn SmoltzBraves5PMike WilliamsPirates1
ReservesPositionPlayerTeamAll-Star GamesCDamian MillerDiamondbacks1CBenito SantiagoGiants51BRichie SexsonBrewers12BJunior SpiveyDiamondbacks12BLuis CastilloMarlins13BMike LowellMarlins1SSJose HernándezBrewers1OFLance BerkmanAstros2OFAdam DunnReds1OFLuis GonzalezDiamondbacks3OFShawn GreenDodgers2OFAndruw JonesBraves2 ManagerManagerTeamBob Brenly Diamondbacks
CoachesCoachTeamJim Tracy DodgersFrank Robinson Expos
Notes Player declined or was unable to play. Player replaced vacant spot on roster. Player was voted onto roster through the All-Star Final Vote.
Starting lineups American LeagueNational LeagueOrderPlayerTeamPositionOrderPlayerTeamPosition1Ichiro SuzukiMarinersRF1José VidroExpos2B2Shea HillenbrandRed Sox3B2Todd HeltonRockies1B3Alex RodriguezRangersSS3Barry BondsGiantsLF4Jason GiambiYankees1B4Sammy SosaCubsRF5Manny RamírezRed SoxLF5Vladimir GuerreroExposCF6Jorge PosadaYankeesC6Mike PiazzaMetsC7Torii HunterTwinsCF7Scott RolenPhillies3B8Alfonso SorianoYankees2B8Jimmy RollinsPhilliesSS9Derek LoweRed SoxP9Curt SchillingDiamondbacksP
Game
Umpires Home Plate Gerry Davis First Base Tim Tschida Second Base Chuck Meriwether Third Base Jerry Meals Left Field Marty Foster Right Field Paul Emmel
Game summary
National League starting pitcher Curt Schilling was sharp early on, striking out three through two innings pitched. In the bottom of the first, Barry Bonds hit a deep fly ball off AL starter Derek Lowe, which looked to be deep enough to be a home run. Instead, center fielder Torii Hunter reached over the wall and caught Bonds' drive, denying the NL an early lead. Bonds playfully picked up Hunter as the NL took the field the next inning.
The NL got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, when a Mike Piazza groundout scored Vladimir Guerrero from third base. The NL scored three more runs in the next inning, when Todd Helton singled home Jimmy Rollins. Barry Bonds got revenge for having his first-inning home run taken away, belting a two-run hit to give the NL a 4–0 lead. The AL finally scored in the fourth, on the strength of a Manny Ramírez RBI single.
The AL cut the NL lead in half in the fifth, when Alfonso Soriano hit a homer off Éric Gagné to cut the lead to 4–2. The NL got a run back with Damian Miller's RBI double to put the NL up 5–2. The AL put together a high-scoring inning in the seventh to take the lead. An RBI groundout from Garret Anderson, an RBI single from Tony Batista, and a two-run double from Paul Konerko scored four runs for the AL, giving them a 6–5 lead after their half of the seventh.
The NL regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh, with a two-run single from Lance Berkman, allowing Mike Lowell and Damian Miller to score. The AL quickly tied the score in the eighth, with Omar Vizquel's RBI triple. Neither team scored in the ninth and the game went into extra innings. Vicente Padilla and Freddy García each pitched scoreless tenth innings, keeping the game tied.
A serious problem arose at this point, as Padilla and Garcia were the last available pitchers on each team. After a scoreless top of the 11th inning, AL and NL managers Joe Torre and Bob Brenly met by the first base dugout with Commissioner Bud Selig to discuss the situation.
Selig controversially ruled that if the NL did not score in the bottom of the 11th, the game would be declared a tie.Rule 4.17 of the normal MLB playing rules provides that a team that is unable or refuses to place nine players on the field shall forfeit the game. Had that rule been followed, then if the NL's Padilla was unable to continue, they would have forfeited the game. After the decision was announced over the stadium's public address system, fans loudly booed and jeered, with beer bottles being thrown onto the field, and chants of "Let them play!", "Refund!", "Bud must go!" and "Ripoff!" were heard.Rogers, Phil. "July 9, 2002: All-Star Game ends in 7-7 tie". July 9, 2002. Chicago Tribune. Garcia retired the NL side in the 11th, and the game ended in a 7–7 tie, to further booing and bottle throwing. No MVP award was given.
Home Run Derby The Home Run Derby took place on July 8 with eight players, four from each league, competing to try to hit as many home runs as possible.
Miller Park, Milwaukee—A.L. 42, N.L. 31PlayerTeamRound 1SemisFinalsTotalsJason GiambiYankees117725Sammy SosaCubs125118Paul KonerkoWhite Sox66–12Richie SexsonBrewers64–10Torii HunterTwins3––3Barry BondsGiants2––2Alex RodriguezRangers2––2Lance BerkmanAstros1––1
Giambi defeated Konerko in a blast off, similar to penalty shots
Notes Before the game, Red Sox All-Stars Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Damon and Ugueth Urbina unveiled a No. 9 (in honor of Ted Williams, who died a few days earlier) painted into the grass in left field—the position the "Splendid Splinter" patrolled in 19 All-Star Games while playing for Boston. It was also the introduction of the uniform change for the Red Sox, adding a black "9" and black armband on the right sleeve of the jersey, for the remainder of the 2002 season. Davey Lopes was not selected as an NL coach, due to him being fired by the Brewers in mid April. In the bottom of the first inning, Torii Hunter made a leaping catch of what would have been a home run by Barry Bonds. Initially lauded as a great play, the catch took on extra significance when the game ended in a tie and the play was voted the play of the year on MLB.com. Bonds hit one out later in the game to make sure that Torii couldn't rob him again. In Bernie's Dugout above left field, mascots from multiple MLB teams joined Bernie and pushed each other down the slide every time a home run was made. When Freddy García batted in the 11th inning, he wore a Chicago White Sox helmet; coincidentally, he was traded to the White Sox two years later. With the American League having five shortstops and one second baseman, Omar Vizquel came off the bench to play second base. After the first out was recorded in the bottom of the 11th, public address announcer Robb Edwards announced the decision that if the National League did not score, the game would end in a tie. They did not, and it did. When the game was called, the fans started the Bad News Bears chant of "Let them Play!, Let them Play!" to no avail. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver stated that if the American League had won, Paul Konerko would have been named MVP, and if the National League had won, Damian Miller would have been named MVP. Throughout the game, both managers wore microphones to converse with Buck, McCarver, and each other.
References General
Specific
External links All-Star Game Home Page Home Run Derby Boxscore and Game Recap Sport Illustrated Recap ESPN.com Recap