Victorino pulls out of All-Star Game
Maui’s Shane Victorino is among the latest All-Star scratches.
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees also bowed out Friday, further threatening to turn baseball’s big show into the All-Scar game.
Victorino made the NL team just a day earlier by winning the fan vote for the final roster spot, but due to a thumb injury, he will be replaced by Andre Ethier of the Dodgers in a switch of NL outfielders. Ethier finished second in the fan vote.
Ethier said some of his friends and family had purchased All-Star tickets anticipating he would make the NL team. After he lost the online fan vote, he said they asked for his help in selling the tickets.
“I’m not a broker,” he said, smiling. “Hopefully, they didn’t sell.”
Shortly after Jeter pulled himself Friday to rest an injured calf, his New York Yankees teammate joined him. The club announced Rodriguez would be absent because of a sore knee.
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That made it three Yankees who won’t play for the American League on Tuesday in Phoenix. Longtime closer Mariano Rivera will sit out to heal his right triceps.
Jhonny Peralta will replace Jeter on the roster, the first All-Star selection for the Detroit shortstop. Cleveland’s Asdrubal Cabrera will move into the starting lineup.
Boston’s Kevin Youkilis will take Rodriguez’s spot, with Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre getting the start.