Major League Baseball All-Star Game: 15thJuly 2008

Event Name: MLB All Star Game
Date of Event: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 TBA
Venue Name: Yankee Stadium. Bronx, NY 10451

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the respective managers (from the previous year's World Series) for pitchers and reserve players. The All-Star Game usually occurs in early to mid-July and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Major League Baseball (MLB) season (though not the mathematical halfway point; in most seasons, the game actually takes place one week later). The game is usually played on a Tuesday, with no regular season games scheduled for the Monday immediately preceding the game and the Wednesday immediately following the game. These are the only 2 calendar days on which no games in the major professional sports leagues of the United States are scheduled.

Since 2003, the pennant winner of the league winning the All-Star Game has been awarded home field advantage for the upcoming World Series. The most recent All-Star game (2007) was played at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, home of the San Francisco Giants. The American League won the game, which secured home field advantage in the 2007 World Series for the sixth straight season (including all five seasons under the current format).

The first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois, and was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. Ward's contribution was recognized by Major League Baseball in 1962 with the creation of the "Arch Ward Trophy," given to the All-Star Game's most valuable player each year.