Rosters unveiled for 83rd All-Star Game in Kansas City - KCTV5

Kansas City Royals designated hitter Billy Butler has been selected as a reserve on the American League team in 83rd All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium.

The rosters for the All-Star game in Kansas City on July 10 were announced Sunday.

Slugger Josh Hamilton led seven Texas players chosen for the All-Star game, while three San Francisco Giants rallied in the final week of fan voting to claim starting spots.

Washington fastballer Stephen Strasburg and Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey also were among the 66 players chosen Sunday for the All-Star game.

Atlanta veteran Chipper Jones, who plans to retire after this season, and Nationals teen Bryce Harper were left off - for now, anyway. They are among five candidates for the last NL spot, with fans able to vote online through Thursday.

"I'm an old-timer, so I'd probably lean toward Chipper," NL manager Tony La Russa said on the TBS selection show.

Texas rookie pitcher Yu Darvish is among the AL choices for the final slot.

Hamilton drew a record total of more than 11 million votes to start in the AL outfield, along with Texas teammates Adrian Beltre at third base and Mike Napoli at catcher. A postseason star last year, Napoli has started only about half the time at that spot this year, but still easily outdistanced Minnesota's Joe Mauer.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler, shortstop Elvis Andrus, starter Matt Harrison and reliever Joe Nathan also made the AL roster from Texas. The two-time AL champion Rangers began the day with a major league-best 50 wins.

"There's so many All-Stars out there, and we have a whole team of them," AL manager Ron Washington of Texas told TBS.

Shortstop Derek Jeter, second baseman Robinson Cano and outfielder Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees were chosen to start in the AL.

Catcher Buster Posey - the top NL vote-getter- outfielder Melky Cabrera and third baseman Pablo Sandoval from San Francisco overcame deficits to get starting spots. Giants ace Matt Cain, who pitched a perfect game in June, made the NL pitching staff.

Prince Fielder of Detroit will start at first base. He was the MVP of last year's All-Star game while playing in the NL for Milwaukee.

Few of the races for starting slots were close. Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp edged Milwaukee's Ryan Braun by 100,000 votes for the third spot in the NL outfield - Kemp, beaten out by Braun for the NL MVP award last year, is on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring and looks doubtful to play.

Dickey, at 37, made his first All-Star team. He leads the majors with 12 wins and could become just the second knuckleballer to start an All-Star game. Dutch Leonard did it in 1943, STATS LLC said.

Strasburg is 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA and tops the majors in strikeouts for the NL East-leading Nationals. Last season at this time, he was working his way back to the big leagues while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

"It's going to be a tremendous experience, and it's a huge honor for me. It's amazing to think where I was a year ago, so it's great to see all the hard work has paid off, but it's not done," he said in Atlanta. "It's only the halfway point of the year. We've still got a long ways to go."

Angels outfielder Mike Trout, leading the majors in hitting at .360, was added as an AL reserve. The 20-year-old rookie drew more than 800,000 write-in votes.

MLB All-Star Game Starters

American League

C Mike Napoli, Texas

1B Prince Fielder, Detroit

2B Robinson Cano, New York

3B Adrian Beltre, Texas

SS Derek Jeter, New York

OF Josh Hamilton, Texas

OF Curtis Granderson, New York

OF Jose Bautista, Toronto

DH David Ortiz, Boston

National League

C Buster Posey, San Francisco

1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati

2B Dan Uggla, Atlanta

3B Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco

SS Rafael Furcal, St. Louis

OF Melky Cabrera, San Francisco

OF Matt Kemp, Los Angeles

OF Carlos Beltran, St. Louis

MLB All-Star Game Pitchers

American League

Matt Harrison, Texas

Joe Nathan, Texas

Felix Hernandez, Seattle

Ryan Cook, Oakland

Justin Verlander, Detroit

CC Sabathia, New York

C.J. Wilson, Los Angeles

Jered Weaver, Los Angeles

Jim Johnson, Baltimore

Chris Sale, Chicago

Chris Perez, Cleveland

Fernando Rodney, Tampa Bay

David Price, Tampa Bay

National League

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles

Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta

Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati

Gio Gonzalez, Washington

Stephen Strasburg, Washington

Cole Hamels, Philadelphia

Jonathan Papelbon, Philadelphia

Wade Miley, Arizona

R.A. Dickey, New York

Lance Lynn, St. Louis

Joel Hanrahan, Pittsburgh

Huston Street, San Diego

Matt Cain, San Francisco

MLB All-Star Game Reserves

American League

Adam Jones, Baltimore

Matt Wieters, Baltimore

Adam Dunn, Chicago

Paul Konerko, Chicago

Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

Billy Butler, Kansas City

Mike Trout, Los Angeles

Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles

Joe Mauer, Minnesota

Elvis Andrus, Texas

Ian Kinsler, Texas

National League

Starlin Castro, Chicago

Bryan Lahair, Chicago

Jay Bruce, Cincinnati

Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado

Jose Altuve, Arizona

Giancarlo Stanton, Miami

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee

David Wright, New York

Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia

Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh

Yadier Molina, St. Louis

Ian Desmond, Washington

American and National League All-Star team managers Ron Washington and Tony La Russa, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, announced the candidates for the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote, a four-day online-only voting for the two remaining All-Star roster spots among the following 10 players:

American League

Jonathan Broxton, Kansas City - (A1)

Yu Darvish, Texas  -  (A2)

Ernesto Frieri, Los Angeles - (A3)

Jason Hammel, Baltimore - (A4)

Jake Peavy, Chicago -  (A5)

National League

Michael Bourn, Atlanta - (N1)

David Freese, St. Louis - (N2)

Bryce Harper, Washington - (N3)

Aaron Hill, Arizona - (N4)

Chipper Jones, Atlanta - (N5)

Fans can cast their votes for the 2012 All-Star Game Final Vote until balloting concludes at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The winners, chosen by online fan voting totals, will be announced on Thursday after the voting ends.

In addition to the web, fans can use their mobile phones to cast votes via the mobile web at MLB.com/vote or via text message. To receive the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for a specific player, fans can text the choice to 89269.

EXAMPLE: Text "A3" to vote for AL Player 3 or "N3" to vote for NL Player 3.

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