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Last but not least Andruw Jones, Johnny Damon get final All-Star spotsPosted: Tuesday July 02, 2002 8:33 PMUpdated: Tuesday July 02, 2002 11:32 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Andruw Jones and Johnny Damon won an Internet runoff for the final two spots in next week's All-Star Game. More than 750,000 voters cast about 3.1 million ballots at mlb.com between Sunday night and Tuesday. AL manager Joe Torre and NL skipper Bob Brenly picked five players to compete for the final spot. Jones, the Atlanta Braves' center fielder, beat out Pittsburgh's Brian Giles by more than 70,000 votes. St. Louis' Albert Pujols was third, followed by San Diego's Ryan Klesko and Colorado's Larry Walker. Jones came into the day hitting .275 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs. "I experienced it one time before. It'll be good to experience it again," Jones said. "It's nice because the fans voted me in." Damon, the center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, beat out Cleveland's Jim Thome by just more than 26,000 votes. Oakland's Eric Chavez was third, followed by Chicago's Magglio Ordonez and Anaheim's Darin Erstad. The news was broken to the Boston fans with a message on the Fenway Park scoreboard after Damon walked in the fifth inning. After a cheer, Damon tipped his helmet to the crowd. "It's very cool for me. I'm on cloud nine right now," said Damon, who is batting .303 with 61 runs scored and 18 steals. "I think the biggest dream of all would be if we keep playing well and the Red Sox win the World Series." Damon left the second game because of cramps in his left leg likely caused by the heat that rose to 104 degrees on the field during the day-night doubleheader. He also had a welt from being hit by a pitch in the first game. He said he would be ready to play on Wednesday. Damon's addition gives Boston six players on the All-Star roster, tying Torre's Yankees and Brenly's Diamondbacks for the most. The Red Sox have not had six All-Stars since 1978, when they had seven in a year that they tied New York for the AL East title before losing in a one-game playoff on Bucky Dent's homer. It's the second time since 1949 that Boston has had six or more players on the All-Star roster. Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who was selected by Torre, declined the invitation on Monday, saying he was more concerned with pitching for the Red Sox. A day later, Damon lightheartedly made an offer to Thome, who is on the trading block. "Unfortunately, other players got slighted," Damon said. "But if Jim Thome would decline his no-trade and come to Boston, I'll let him take my spot." Thome, who homered in his sixth consecutive game Tuesday, wasn't too upset about missing out on the All-Star Game.
"You want to thank the fans for keeping you that close," he
said. "All the guys deserve to go; that's why they were in
there."
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