MLB All-Star Game Tuesday, July 12

Play ball! And they will on Tuesday night at 8 p. m. in the 82nd annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It's that once a year event where stars of the National League go head to head with the American League's favorite players! Ironically, the game is being played on the same day as the trial begins for "The Rocket", Roger Clemons.

This year, the game will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's the first All-Star Game to be played in Arizona and the first to use the designated hitter rule in a National League park. The All-Star game is often referred to as the All-Star Break, half way through the baseball season. At this point, if your team is in first place, it has to fight to stay there and avoid a late summer slump (the Mets used to be pretty good at that). If your team is in third or fourth place, now's the time for to get serious about wining games to make the fall playoffs.

And what would any major sporting event be without some controversy? According to Wikipedia:

"Some had suggested that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should move the game due to the controversial SB1070 anti-illegal immigration bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. Others considered asking club owners, sponsors and even players to boycott the All-Star game if the law was implemented and the game remained in Phoenix. However on May 13, 2010, Selig announced that the game would stay at Chase Field in Phoenix as planned."