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The National League All Stars:






Not surprisingly, the 2083 National League All Star squad is heavily populated by members of the top NL teams. Pittsburgh, owner of the NL's best record, leads the way with five representatives. Rochester, a game behind Pittsburgh, and West-leading Los Angeles are next with four players apiece. San Diego, second in the NL West, has three representatives. New Jersey, Harrisburg, and Hartford each have two players on the NL squad. San Jose, Phoenix, and Sacramento round out the roster with one player each. Buffalo and Portland are the only National League teams with no All Stars.


Catcher:

Pittsburgh's Aaron Quijada will make his sixth appearance in the mid-summer classic this year. The 35 year old Quijada has hit .350/.441/.548/.989, with 14 homeruns, 72 RBI, and 62 runs scored this year.

Norman Adrover will make his first All Star game at the age of 27. New Jersey's catcher has hit .318/.341/.535/.876, with 17 homers, 57 RBI, and 39 runs scored.


First Base:

Thirty-two year old Emil Cuestas will make his fourth All Star appearance this year. The Phoenix first-baseman leads the National League in batting average(.383), slugging percentage(.674), and OPS(1.085). He has also posted a .411 OBP, and hit 25 doubles and 22 homeruns. Cuestas is second in the NL with 78 runs batted in, and has scored 53 runs.

This will be Los Angeles first-baseman Timothy Wegener's first All Star game. The 28 year old has hit .301/.330/.624/.954 so far this season. He is second in the National League with 28 homeruns and first in the league with 79 runs batted in. He has also scored 59 runs.


Second Base:

San Diego's Andrew Burdick will make his tenth appearance in the All Star game this year. The 35 year old Burdick, a three-time Silver Slugger award winner, has hit .341/.450/.604/1.055 so far this season. The on base percentage ranks second in the National League. Burdick has also hit 22 homeruns, driven in 72 runs, and scored 78 runs. The runs scored ranks second in the National League. Burdick is third in the NL in walks, with 56, and has also stolen 22 bases. Late last year, Burdick hit his 500th homerun. On June 13th of this year, he reached 3,000 career hits. Currently, Burdick has 3,020 hits and 528 homeruns. He also ranks 14th on the all time runs scored list, with 1,958.


Third Base:

This will be Javier Rael's second appearance in the All Star game. The 29 year old Pittsburgh third-sacker has hit .324/.447/.615/1.062 this season. Both the on base percentage and OPS rank third in the National League. Rael has also belted 23 homeruns. He is third in the league in runs batted in, with 76, and has scored 66 runs. He leads the league with 64 walks.

Oscar Elkins has had a long and fairly productive career, but until this year, he had never been an All Star before. Los Angeles' 36 year old third-baseman is certainly a worthy selection, as he has hit .327/.373/.616/.990 so far, with 25 doubles, 19 homeruns, 69 RBI, and 48 runs scored.


Shortstop:

Harrisburg's Coy Drews will make his second All Star appearance this year. The 26 year old has hit .310/.434/.620/1.054 so far. He is third in the league in homeruns with 24, has driven in 65 runs, and is tied for third in the league with 67 runs scored. He is second in the league with 60 walks.

Twenty-eight year old Ralph Jennings will make his fourth All Star appearance this year. The Hartford shortstop has hit .312/.370/.623/938 this year. Jennings has hit 20 homeruns, driven in 65 runs, and scored 62. He is tied for third in the league with 7 triples.


Left Field:

This will be Jerry Harmer, Jr.'s second All Star appearance. The 31 year old Pittsburgh left-fielder ranks second in the league in batting average(.368) and first in the league in on base percentage(.467). He has also slugged .547, giving him an OPS of 1.014. He is third in the league in doubles, with 26, and tied for third in the league in triples, with 7. He has also poked out 5 homeruns while collecting 39 runs batted in. He leads the league with 81 runs scored. He is also third in the league in walks, with 56.

Thirty-four year old John Gans will appear in his fourth All Star game this year. The Hartford left-fielder is third in the league in batting average, with a .357 mark. Gans has also posted a .387 on base percentage and a .577 slugging percentage, to give him a .964 OPS. He has hit 13 homeruns, driven in 56 runs, and scored 48 runs. He has also swiped 11 bases.


Center Field:

At 22 years of age, San Diego's Gaby Matos is the youngest player on either All Star squad. Nevertheless, this is his second All Star appearance. Matos has hit .270/.377/.533/.911 this year, with 22 homeruns and 56 runs batted in. He is tied for third in the league with 67 runs scored, and has stolen 19 bases.

Rochester's Gerald Schuyler will make his first All Star game at the age of 27. Schuyler has hit .345/.385/.519/.904, with 6 triples, 9 homeruns, 52 RBI, and 39 runs scored.


Right Field:

Twenty-six year old Matthew Milewski will make his second All Star appearance. The Sacramento right-fielder has hit .331/.376/.589/.966, with 20 homers, 47 RBI, 57 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases.

This will be Bill Orsini's first All Star appearance. The 28 year old Harrisburg right-fielder has hit .280/.389/.549/.938, with 19 homeruns, 62 RBI, 52 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases.


Starting Pitchers:

This season has heralded the emergence of San Diego's Carlos Lozoya. The 27 year old will go to his first All Star game after going 13-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 98 strikeouts. Both the wins and ERA are tops in all of baseball.

Thirty-year old Scott Council is also going to his first All Star game. The Pittsburgh starting pitcher is 11-1 with a 2.69 ERA, and 114 strikeouts. The wins rank third in the National League and the ERA ranks second. Council also ranks second in the league with 5 complete games and tied for first with 2 shutouts.

San Jose's Roger Salazar will make his first All Star team at the age of 35. Salazar is 12-3 with a 4.38 ERA and 69 strikeouts. The wins rank second in the National League. He is tied for first in the league with 2 shutouts.

Kevin Phipps is yet another first time All Star. The 33 year old New Jersey pitcher is 9-2, with a 3.55 ERA and 95 strikeouts.

Still another first time All Star is Rochester's Dennis Philson. The 33 year old Philson is 9-3, with a 4.13 ERA and 99 strikeouts.

And still another first time All Star is Rochester's George Lasseter. The 32 year old is 8-5, with a 3.25 ERA, and 90 strikeouts. Lasseter leads the league with 6 complete games.

Ironically enough, the youngest of the National League All Star starting pitchers is the only one who is not a first timer. Twenty-six year old Robert Jones will make his second All Star game this year. The Los Angeles starter is 9-5, with a 3.11 ERA and 97 strikeouts.


Relief Pitchers:

Pittsburgh relief ace Joe O'Donoghue will make the second All Star appearance of his career. The 34 year old has made 35 appearance this season, and is 10-2 with 12 saves. He has posted a 1.66 ERA and has 51 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. His wins rank first among all relief pitchers, his ERA ranks fourth, his innings pitched ranks third, and his strikeouts rank second.

Rochester closer Nathaniel Owen will make his third All Star game this year. The 36 year old Owen has pitched in 37 games this year and leads the league with 24 saves. He has a 1.96 ERA.

Twenty-eight year old Los Angeles closer Mark McAnulty rounds out the National League squad. This will be McAnulty's second All Star game. McAnulty has made 35 appearances and is second in the league with 22 saves. He has posted a 2.45 ERA.