The first half of Major League Baseball's 2011 season comes to a close on Sunday evening when the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets play on ESPN at 5:05pm pacific. However, MLB's 2011 All Star Game festivities kick off two hours before that with the 2011 XM All-Star Futures Game. The battle of minor leaguers will take place at 3:00pm pacific on ESPN2. The Futures Game will be followed at 6:30pm by the Taco Bell Legends & Celebrity Softball Game. Monday July 11 will feature Workout Day and the annual State Farm Home Run Derby. Tuesday July 12 will wrap up the festivities with the 82nd annual MLB All-Star Game at 5:00pm.
The Bay Area will be well-represented in all the festivities. The San Francisco Giants will be represented in the All Star Game by Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, and Brian Wilson. In the Futures Game, the Giants will be represented by Single-A outfielder Gary Brown.
The Oakland Athletics will be represented in the All Star Game by starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez. In the Futures Game, the A's will be represented by Double-A shortstop Grant Green. In the Celebrity & Legends Softball Game, former A's Rickey Henderson and Rollie Fingers will be making appearances. Additionally, Chris Pratt, who plays Scott Hatteberg in the upcoming Moneyball movie, will be appearing in the game.
We'll be here through Tuesday's All Star Game with news updates and recaps of all the festivities.