Another Ex-Tider In All-Star Game

It was 50 years between selections of the second and third former Alabama players for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Then it took only a matter of days for the selection of the fourth former Tider.

Former University of Alabama pitcher David Robertson has been named to the American League roster for Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star game. Robertson, who pitches for the New York Yankees, will replace David Price on the roster as announced on Sunday.

Robertson becomes the second former Crimson Tide player to make the 2011 MLB All-Star game, as Alex Avila, who was a teammate of Robertson on the 2006 Crimson Tide SEC Championship team, will be the starting catcher for the America League.

When Avila was named to the team, he became the first former Bama player to earn the selection in 50 years. Luke Sewell (Chicago White Sox) and Frank Lary (Detroit Tigers) were the only other Alabama baseball players that earned selections to the Midsummer Classic. Sewell was the first Crimson Tide player selected to a MLB All-Star Game in 1937, while Lary is the only UA player with multiple appearances, in 1960 and 1961.

Robertson, who has been a late inning reliever for the New York Yankees, becomes an All-Star for the first time in his career. He has 56 strikeouts in 35.1 innings, to go along with a 1.27 ERA and a 2-0 record in 2011. The 14.26 strikeouts per nine innings are the most among any pitcher with at least 30 innings pitched this season.

He is one of eight Yankees in this year’s game.

The 2011 MLB All-Star game will be played on Tuesday at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch for the 82nd annual Midsummer Classic is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT.