Beltran will take place of Griffey
Center fielder Carlos Beltran switched All-Star teams Sunday.
Voted to the A.L. squad by fellow players before being traded from Kansas City to Houston, Beltran was picked for the N.L. roster to fill the opening created when Ken Griffey Jr. was hurt Saturday night.
Beltran became the first player to be chosen for one All-Star team and wind up on the other side, the commissioner’s office said.
It will be a neat homecoming, of sorts, for Beltran in his first All-Star game. The game will be played at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Tuesday night.
“I deserve to be there. They should do something and come up with a better rule,” Beltran said before Sunday’s game at Los Angeles. “Even though I was selected to be an All-Star, I wasn’t 100 percent happy. Now I’m 100 percent happy.”
Beltran already had earned a $50,000 bonus from his contract for becoming an All-Star.
Beltran was hitting .264 with five home runs and 10 RBIs in 53 at-bats for the Astros going into Sunday. He batted .278 with 15 homers, 51 RBIs and 14 stolen bases for the Royals before the three-team trade that sent him to Houston.
Arizona’s Steve Finley also was considered for the fill-in spot after Griffey was injured.
Griffey tore his right hamstring in Milwaukee and was put on the 15-day disabled list. He was injured chasing Brady Clark’s drive in the Reds’ 5-0 loss.
Beltran was chosen by A.L. players, managers and coaches in voting released July 4. He got the most votes among A.L. outfielders behind the elected starters — Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez and Ichiro Suzuki.
After the deal, Major League Baseball said Beltran was considered an All-Star and could participate in the festivities, but could not be put on the N.L. team because of the A.L. vote.
“It’s great. It’s my first one,” he said. “I have a chance to be in the game. It all depends on the manager, because he’ll pick his players, but I have a chance. Maybe I’ll have an at-bat.”
U.S. team wins Futures game
The U.S. team beat the World squad 4-3 in the All-Star Futures game in Houston.
Last-minute addition Aaron Hill of the Toronto organization won the MVP award with a two-run double in leading the team managed by former star reliever Goose Gossage. Wilfredo Ledezma, who pitched for Detroit last season, took the loss for Fernando Valenzuela’s club.
The Futures game brings a lot of baseball’s top young talent to the ballpark where the big league All-Stars will play in a couple of days. In the first Futures game, Alfonso Soriano homered off Mark Mulder at Fenway Park in 1999.
San Juan swoon this time around
Everything went according to plan last year for the Montreal Expos in Puerto Rico.
The team had a 13-9 record in San Juan, Hiram Bithorn Stadium rocked with an average attendance of 14,222, the team stayed in the N.L. East race until the last month of the season, and Major League Baseball got much needed revenue from a struggling franchise.
Things changed dramatically in 2004.
Montreal traded its two most recognizable Latin stars — Puerto Rican Javier Vazquez and Dominican Vladimir Guerrero — and the team sunk in the standings from the start, going 7-14 in San Juan, with an average attendance of 10,333.
Clearing the bases
The Minnesota Twins activated outfielder Shannon Stewart from the disabled list. He’ll join the team in Kansas City after the All-Star break. Outfielder Michael Restovich was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to make room… . Former New York Mets and San Francisco Giants outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo hit a pair of doubles and stole home to lead the Pacific League to a 2-1 win over the Central League in Nagano, Japan, and a sweep of Japanese baseball’s two-game All-Star series.