July 26 in Nagasaki
The game was postponed a day due to the Empress Dowager's funeral. In the 2nd inning, Tokyo Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara slammed a homerun. It's his 12th in an all star game. He later had a base hit too and earned 2 RBIs. The Central League batter exploded again. The Pacific League barely saved its face when the BlueWave's leading hitter Ichiro slammed a homerun. The game ended 9 to 3 for the Central League. Kiyohara was named MVP for the 7th time.

July 23 Kobe Green Stadium
The Central League side broke the all star record. It's marked 18 base hits. In the 8th inning alone, it's recorded 7 hits in a row--an all star tie, including Tokyo Giants' Hideki Matsui's homer. The Pacific League started with Seibu Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka. He had a disappointing showing giving up 3 runs in 2 innings although he hurled a speed ball of 154 km. The good news for the Pacific League was that Ichiro of the BlueWave marked his 10th base hit in a row. It's an all star record. The win went again to the Central League clinching the game 12 to 4.

July 22 Tokyo Dome
The Daiei Hawks players were awesome. Hiroyuki Kokubo exploded with a big homer. He tripled too. His teammates Kenji Jojima, Koji Akiyama were some of the few who had base hits. The MVP, however, went to the Yakult Swallows Roberto Petagine who slammed 2 homers to help the Central League to beat the opposing league 5 to 4. He took home with him 2 million yen.

Top players pull out
To name a few 3 Giants' players, Uehara, Martinez and Etoh's withdrawal from the all star competition was confirmed due to injuries. As one of the many replacements, the Dragons' skipper Senichi Hoshino chose Kazuhiro Kiyohara. It will be his 14th time to play at the all star game.

Fans' top picks

	Central League	Pacific League
Pitcher	Koji Uehara (Giants)	Daisuke Matsuzaka (Lions)
Catcher	Atsuya Furuta (Swallows)	Kenji Johjima (Hawks)
First baseman	Domingo Martinez (Giants)	Hiroo Ishii (Marines)
2nd baseman	Toshihisa Nishi (Tigers)	Koichi Oshima (BlueWave)
3rd baseman	Akira Etoh (Giants)	Nirihiro Nakamura (Buffaloes)
Shortstop	Tomohiro Nioka (Giants)	Kazuo Matsui (Lions)
Outfielder	Hideki Matsui (Giants) Yoshinobu Takahashi (Giants) Tsuyoshi Shinjo (Tigers)	Ichiro Suzuki (BlueWave) Koji Akiyama (Hawks) Tuffy Rhode (Buffaloes)

BASEBALL ARCHIVE INDEX