MLB All-Star Game: Can Billy Butler end the Royals hit drought?
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Tonight’s All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. It will be the second time K.C. has hosted the ASG (they last hosted in 1973). Designated Hitter Billy Butler will be the host’s lone representative on the American League squad.
While Royals fans have not had much to cheer about in the last several years (the Royals have had only one winning season since 1995), the club was at the center of one of the greatest moments in All-Star Game history courtesy of Bo Jackson.
On July 11, 1989, Jackson, a Kansas City Royals outfielder, was the starting left-fielder and lead-off hitter for the American League. In the top of the first inning, Jackson made a diving catch that saved two runs. In the bottom of that inning, he homered. Jackson was later selected the game’s MVP in the A.L.’s 5-3 win; this All-Star Game performance helped cement his legend as one of sports’ greatest two-sport athletes.
But that ASGĀ game in 1989 was also notable for another reason, although not necessarily a positive note for the Royals and their fans. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jackson collected his second hit of the game, a single to center. What makes the hit noteworthy is that was the last hit a member of the Royals has collected in an All-Star Game, a current streak of 22 seasons where Royals hitters have gone hitless in the ASG.
In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers have had a similar batting drought. Last year, the Brewers Prince Fielder hit a three-run HR on way to his MVP Award in the 2011 ASG. But that home run was only the second hit for a Brewers player in the ASG since 2000 (Fielder doubled in the 2009 game for the team’s only other hit since 2000.) The Brewers have a .069 batting average (2-for-29) in the All-Star Game since 2000, lowest average in the National League.
Topping the list are the L.A. Dodgers who have hit .350 since 2000. The Yankees have the most ASG hits since 2000 with 20.
Listed below are the batting averages of all MLB team hitters in the All-Star Game since 2000.
A.L. team, hits/at-bats, average
Toronto, 7-for-21, .333
Boston, 18-for-55, .327
Chicago White Sox, 8-for-25, .320
Texas, 18-for-60, .300
N.Y. Yankees, 20-for-73, .274
Tampa Bay, 7-for-26, .269
Detroit, 7-for-30, .233
Baltimore, 4-for-18, .222
Seattle, 9-for-41, .220
Cleveland, 5-for-24, .208
L.A. Angels, 6-for-32, .188
Minnesota, 5-for-27, .185
Oakland, 1-for-7, .143
Kansas City, 0-for-7, .000
N.L. team, hits/at-bats, average
L.A. Dodgers, 7-for-20, .350
St. Louis, 16-for-46, .348
N.Y. Mets, 14-for-41, .341
Arizona, 6-for-18, .333
Atlanta, 11-for-38, .289
Houston, 7-for-25, .280
Chicago Cubs, 7-for-27, .259
San Francisco, 5-for-21, .238
Philadelphia, 8-for-34, .235
Washington, 4-for-18, .222
San Diego, 2-for-10, .200
Colorado, 5-for-27, .185
Cincinnati, 3-for-21, .143
Miami, 6-for-37, .135
Pittsburgh, 2-for-18, .111
Milwaukee, 2-for-29, .069
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