1998 AAA All-Star Game

The 1998 AAA All-Star Game was held on July 8, 1998 in Norfolk, VA. The game was hosted by the Norfolk Tides, the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets, at Harbor Park. This was the first All-Star game to pit the International League against the Pacific Coast League, following the demise of the American Association in the Minor League Reorganization of 1998.

The International League would be the home team and was managed by Marv Foley of the Rochester Red Wings. His coaches would be Ken Macha of the Pawtucket Red Sox and Dave Miley of the Indianapolis Indians. The PCL would be led by Las Vegas Stars manager Jerry Royster. His coaches were Dave Myers of the Tacoma Rainiers and Tom Brown of the Oklahoma Redhawks. The game was broadcast on ESPN2 with Bob Carpenter, Dave Campbell and Joe Castellano calling the game.

The pre-game festivities included the unveiling of the first ever AAA World Series logo and the wedding of Tides outfielder Benny Agbayani. Once the game got under way the IL jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first after a couple of RBI singles and a solo homer from Mike Lowell. The PCL would chip away with runs in the 3rd and 4th but the IL struck back with 2 more in their half of the fourth to make it 5-2. A third run for the Pacific Coast squad would cut the lead to two runs but that was as close as they would get. A three run seventh would put the game away for the International League, who would go on to win 8-4. IL starter Joel Bennett, of the Rochester Red Wings, got the win while PCL starter Travis Baptist, from the Salt Lake Buzz took the loss.

The Stars of Stars awards were awarded to one player from each league. The IL award went to Mike Lowell of the Columbus Clippers. Lowell went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI. The PCL award went to Terry Shumpert of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Shumpert went 1-3 with a solo homer.

Future big leaguers to appear in the game included Lowell, Jeremy Giambi, Armando Rios, Paul LoDuca, Ronnie Belliard, Trot Nixon and Alex Gonzalez.

Starting Lineups

International League				Batting Order		Pacific Coast League
Player	Position	Team				Player	Position	Team
Allen Battle	CF	Ottawa Lynx		1		Terry Shumpert	SS	Colorado Springs Sky Sox
Ronnie Belliard	2B	Louisville Redbirds		2		Jeremy Giambi	RF	Omaha Royals
Roberto Petagine	1B	Indianapolis Indians		3		Armando Rios	CF	Fresno Grizzlies
Mike Lowell	DH	Columbus Clippers		4		Derrick White	LF	Iowa Cubs
Willis Otanez	3B	Rochester Red Wings		5		George Arias	3B	Las Vegas Stars
Bobby Estalella	C	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons		6		Alan Zinter	DH	Iowa Cubs
Trot Nixon	RF	Pawtucket Red Sox		7		Jeff Ball	1B	Fresno Grizzlies
Scott Krause	LF	Louisville Redbirds		8		Paul LoDuca	C	Albuquerque Dukes
Jolbert Cabrera	SS	Buffalo Bisons		9		Dave Hajek	SS	Las Vegas Stars
Joel Bennett	P	Rochester Red Wings		SP		Travis Baptist	P	Salt Lake Buzz

Box Score

Sources

AAA Baseball