All-Star Live Blog

6:45 - So I fully planned on being at Fenway Park this evening, but I am at home instead. If I had just left in the morning, without glancing at any radar, I probably would have been fine. But idle hands and attractive meteorologists are a bad recipe for me. I kept going back to them until their fear-mongering convinced me that Hurricane Barry was on the way. So with the possibility of a drive from Little Rhody going for naught in a Boston deluge, I made the prudent but potentially regrettable decision to stay home and watch on NESN. Of course, it appears now that they'll play through this eminently light rain, and I am of course wishing I was there. However, I will soldier on. I feel I've taken one for the team here. I'm pretty well-acquaintaned with Murphy and his law, so I'm pretty sure this is all me. If I was at Fenway, I really would have brought a hurricane. So you're welcome. Anyway, the point is, I'll be watching and doing a little live blog here for anyone else who is not at Fenway. Stay tuned.

6:50 - They're starting early to get ahead of the rain. Workman on the mound for the home West squad, ready to go.

6:53 - Top four in East lineup looks real strong. Gary Brown leading off.

6:55 - Workman strikes out Brown with a 94 mph high fastball.

6:56 - Wates goes down swinging on a curveball. Workman hasn't been here long, but there's no doubting the stuff.

6:58 - Miscommunication in the outfield almost costs the West, but Todd Cunningham makes the diving catch in center. That's a 1-2-3 inning for Workman. In all-star appearances the last two years, he now hasn't allowed a base-runner and he has struck out four.

6:59 - It took until the third inning for a run to score last year. Todd Cunningham leading off for the West against Rob Rasmussen.

7:01 - Cunningham reaches on a hard shot to third that got past Jedd Gyorko. They'll call it an error.

7:02 - That didn't take long. After the error, Zack Cox crushed the first pitch he saw to deep center for a triple. Cunningham scores to give the West a 1-0 lead.

7:03 - Kyle Roller goes down on strikes. Blame it on the Cotuit helmet he was wearing. Actually, Ryan Cuneo is wearing a Cotuit helmet too. Apparently, Cotuit brought the helmets.

7:06 - Cuneo works the walk, and it's first and third for the West. There weren't two runners on base in last year's game until the fifth inning. Almost a twin killing for the East, but Cody Stanley legs out the throw, and Cox scores. It's 2-0.

7:08 - Stanley caught stealing by Chatham's Mike Murray to end the inning.

7:10 - Baseball America's Aaron Fitt is at the game and blogging. He says 13,000 in attendance. That's a great crowd, even on a clear night.

7:12 - Another Gatemen gets the call for the West. Jack Armstrong in and throwing 96.

7:15 - Armstrong leaving everything up. He walks Mike Murray with one out.

7:16 - My first look at the new Harwich home unis. I'm a fan.

7:19 - A couple of ground balls get Armstrong out of the inning with no damage done.

7:20 - NESN has Oriole Brian Roberts in the booth. He played for Chatham in 1998. Reminiscing about facing Ben Sheets and Barry Zito.

7:25 - Kyle Blair on for the East. He gets two quick outs before a soft line drive from B.A. Vollmuth gets over shortstop.

7:26 - With Blair on now, that means two of the first four pitchers in the game were top-five round picks in the 2007 draft. Blair went in the fifth, Workman in the third.

7:27 - A walk puts two on, and the East West is threatening. Cunningham up.

7:30 - Cunningham hit by a 3-2 pitch. Bases loaded for Zack Cox.

7:31 - Zack Cox for MVP. Opposite field line drive plates Vollmuth for a 3-0 West lead. Bases still loaded for Roller.

7:32 - Blair gets out of the jam with a grounder to first.

7:34 - Make it three Gatemen in a row. Eric Pfisterer on the mound for the West.

7:37 - After a fielder's choice, a pickoff throw that glances off the glove of Roller allows Colin Walsh to take second.

7:41 - Pfisterer strikes out Brown and Wates to end the inning. Neither of those two have struck out much this year (Brown 9 in 85 AB, Wates 18 in 96). Impressive stuff from Pfisterer.

7:45 - Red Sox assistant GM Ben Cherington: "You could certainly make the argument that if you're going to see one amateur game in a year, this is it."

7:46 - Chris Sale doesn't give Cherington much time in the booth. Groundout, strikeout, groundout, and we're on to the fourth.

7:48 - Dallas Gallant on for the West. He's the first non-starting pitcher to make an appearance.

7:53 - Mike Murray just misses a home run. A deep drive to right drifts foul.

7:54 - Gallant strikes out Murray. The East squad still has just one hit, and it was an infield single.

7:59 - BA's Aaron Fitt in the booth, summing up the league's makeup this year: "I think it's a very solid year. There aren't the consensus top guys . . . this summer will go a long way to establishing who goes in the first round."

8:02 - Good play from Wiswall on a low throw gets the East out of a jam. End four, still 3-0.

8:03 - Some speculation from the Cape Cod Times: "The West subbed all its reserves in, too, indicating that this game might not go on much longer."

8:10 - Stephen Harrold in for the West. He has issued a pair of walks. Two on, one out for the East.

8:11 - Nice double play turned by Nick Crawford and Derek Dietrich, ending the inning.

8:14 - The tarp is on the field. Rain delay.

8:18 - NESN still calling it a rain delay. Cape Cod Times seems to think it's over. The game is official at this point.

8:20 - Well that's that. NESN confirms the game has been called after four-and-a-half. Zack Cox wins the MVP award. He goes 2-for-2 with a triple and a single and two RBI.

8:21 - Great interview with Cox. Paraphrasing: "Everyone wants to make it to the Major Leagues, but this right here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

8:22 - As the Cape Cod Times noted earlier, the teams made sure to get all their positional subs into the game early. That left nine pitchers who didn't unfortunately didn't get to take the mound: Casey Gaynor, Aaron Meade, John Leonard, Tyler Burgoon and Russell Brewer for the East; Kevin Munson, Daniel Tillman, Patrick Cooper and Taylor Wall for the West.

8:24 - It's too bad that they had to call this one, but kudos to the Red Sox for allowing the league to play long enough to make it official. If this thing hadn't happened at all, it would have been a much bigger shame than an early ending.