Select to see the final 2009 ASG Voting (PDF) St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter have finished as Major League Baseball’s leading vote-getters in a record year for fan balloting and will be among the starters in the 80th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 14th at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. MLB’s All-Star Balloting Program is the largest of its kind in professional sports. This year, an all-time high 23.5 million ballots were cast, surpassing last year’s 20 million. The 2009 American League and National League All-Star Teams were revealed today on the “MLB All-Star Selection Show presented by Pepsi” on TBS. Pujols, now an eight-time National League All-Star, collected 5,397,374 votes, the second highest total in Major League Baseball history, trailing only the 6,079,688 votes cast for Ken Griffey, Jr. in 1994. Pujols is now a fan-elected starter for the fourth time. This marks the second time in Pujols’ career that he has finished as MLB’s leading votegetter and it is the third time that he has finished atop all N.L. players. In addition, Albert finished as the top online vote-getter via the All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot on MLB.com. Pujols also led Major League Baseball in All-Star votes in 2006 (with 3,418,555) and he led the N.L. in 2003 with 2,030,703. Jeter finished ahead of all American League players for the first time in his 10-time All-Star career with 4,851,889 votes. It will be the sixth time that the Yankee captain will start the Midsummer Classic and his fifth fan election into the starting lineup. Pujols will not be the only member of the host Cardinals who will take the field at the start of the 2009 All-Star Game as catcher Yadier Molina staved off competition from several veteran All-Star backstops to earn his Midsummer Classic debut with 2,641,467 votes. Last year’s leading vote-getter in the N.L., second baseman Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies, has gotten the nod for his fourth consecutive start in the All-Star Game with 5,027,029 votes. For the second straight year, Utley’s double-play partner will be his N.L. East rival, Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who garnered 3,218,917 votes. Rounding out the N.L. infield will be New York Mets third baseman David Wright, whose 3,100,863 votes will send him to his fourth All-Star Game overall and his third fan-elected start. For the second straight year, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers surged to the top spot among N.L. outfielders in the final week of balloting. Braun, the only N.L. outfielder among the leaders each week throughout balloting, collected 4,138,599 votes to finish one spot ahead of Philadelphia’s Raul Ibañez, whose 4,053,555 votes  have secured the first All-Star bid of his 14-year Major League career. Ibañez’s Midsummer Classic debut comes in his  first season in the National League. The third N.L. outfielder is New York’s Carlos Beltran, who received 2,812,295 votes for his fifth All-Star berth, including his fourth fan election. Beltran, who is currently on the disabled list, will be replaced in the starting lineup by the top ranking outfielder from the Player Ballot who is not already a starter. Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer earned his third Midsummer Classic start by finishing second overall in the American League with 4,335,739 votes. Jeter will be joined in the A.L.’s starting lineup by his teammate Mark Teixeira, who prevailed in his topsy-turvy battle with Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Teixeira, whose other All-Star Game appearance came as a starter in 2005, collected 3,309,050 votes to edge out Youkilis (3,069,906), last year’s A.L. starting first baseman. Youkilis led for the first two weeks of balloting before Teixeira went ahead in the third update. The two then traded places for each of the next three weeks until Teixeira’s victory. Another comeback was at second base, where Boston’s Dustin Pedroia swiped the lead from Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers for the first time this year in the final stages of balloting. Both players were All-Stars last year, but Pedroia earned the start for the second straight year with 3,404,384 votes, ahead of Kinsler’s 3,331,298. Playing to Jeter’s right will be Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, now a two-time All-Star whose first year on the ballot produced 4,315,210 votes, the third highest mark in the A.L. Longoria won easily against a field that included veteran All-Stars Alex Rodriguez, Mike Lowell and Michael Young. Jason Bay of the Red Sox has earned his third invitation to the Midsummer Classic, his second start and his debut on the A.L. side with 4,087,050 votes, putting him far ahead of his fellow A.L. outfielders. Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners has made his ninth consecutive A.L. All-Star team and has earned his eighth start with 2,846,069 votes. The third starting spot goes to Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who will return to the Midsummer Classic for the second consecutive year. Hamilton’s 2,412,359 votes edged out the 2,363,481 cast for Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. MLB’s All-Star Game Balloting program is the largest of its kind in professional sports. More than 20 million Walt Disney Pictures G-Force All-Star ballots were distributed at the 30 Major League ballparks, where each had 25 home balloting dates, and in approximately 100 Minor League ballparks. Walt Disney Pictures’ and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ comedy adventure film “G-FORCE” is the title sponsor of the 2009 in-stadium All-Star Balloting program and has teamed up with MLB for the Grand Slam Sweepstakes. If a grand slam is hit during the All-Star Game on July 14th, the first million people who have entered on Disney.com between April 22nd and by 11:59 p.m. (PT) on July 14th will receive a code that can be redeemed for a free ticket to the 3-D comedy adventure movie “G-FORCE” on its opening day, July 24th, at participating theaters. Fans had the opportunity to cast their votes for starters up to 25 times with the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot at MLB.com and all 30 Club Web sites, which offer English and Spanish-language ballots. After the conclusion of in-stadium balloting on Sunday, June 28th, fans could cast their final ballots exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club Web sites until Thursday, July 2nd at 11:59 p.m. (EDT). In addition, Banco BHD, which sponsors All-Star balloting in the Dominican Republic, made Spanish-language ballots available offline and online at www.bhd.com.do. The A.L. and N.L. All-Star Teams each have eight fan-elected starting position players. Player Ballot choices added eight reserve position players and eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) to the All-Star rosters. Then, eight selections, including the new additional All-Star pitcher, were made by the two All-Star Team managers – A.L. skipper Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays and N.L. manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies – in conjunction with MLB. In making their selections, the managers have ensured that each Club is represented in the All- Star Game. Fans can now begin voting to select the final player for each League's 33-man roster via the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote on MLB.com, casting their votes from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period. The winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 9th. For the fifth year, fans will also be able to make their Final Vote selections on their mobile phone; Sprint subscribers will have the exclusive opportunity to cast votes for the winners of the Final Vote by text on Sprint capable phones. Standard text rates apply. Finally, fans once again will participate in the official voting for the 80th All-Star Game’s Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet via the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint MVP Vote on MLB.com. The 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8:00 p.m. (EDT)/7:00 p.m. (CDT). ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage. Select Read More to see the final 2009 MLB All-Star Game voting results, as well as reserves for both the American and National League as selected by Joe Maddon and Charlie Manuel, and player voting results