2015 MLB All-Star Game: Full Rosters and Viewing Info for Summer Showcase

Although meant to honor and bring baseball's best together, the MLB All-Star Game instead welcomes a sea of negativity and resentment.

Too often fans and analysts get caught decrying the biggest omissions rather than praising the deserving selections. After all, this is a game that foolishly counts. With the stakes so high, it stinks to see Clayton Kershaw, Joey Votto and Brian Dozier left out.

Yet there are several other feel-good stories to instead celebrate. Some have blossomed before our eyes. Others have overcome injuries, and one has enjoyed an incredible bounce-back campaign to possibly conclude his career.

After running through the full 2015 rosters and viewing info, let's single out a few of those heartwarming stories.

2015 MLB All-Star Game 

Date: Tuesday, July 14

Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati 

Time (ET): 7 p.m.

TV: Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

American League Roster

Position	Starter	Team
Position	Reserve	Team
Position	Pitcher	Team
C	Salvador Perez	Kansas City Royals
1B	Miguel Cabrera (Injured)	Detroit Tigers
2B	Jose Altuve	Houston Astros
3B	Josh Donaldson	Toronto Blue Jays
SS	Alcides Escobar	Kansas City Royals
OF	Mike Trout	Los Angeles Angels
OF	Lorenzo Cain	Kansas City Royals
OF	Alex Gordon (Injured)	Kansas City Royals
DH	Nelson Cruz	Seattle Mariners
C	Russell Martin	Toronto Blue Jays
C	Stephen Vogt	Oakland Athletics
1B	Albert Pujols (Starting for Cabrera)	Los Angeles Angels
1B	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees
2B	Brock Holt	Boston Red Sox
2B	Jason Kipnis	Cleveland Indians
SS	Jose Iglesias	Detroit Tigers
3B	Manny Machado	Baltimore Orioles
3B	Mike Moustakas (Final Vote)	Kansas City Royals
OF	Jose Bautista	Toronto Blue Jays
OF	Brett Gardner (Replacing Gordon)	New York Yankees
OF	Adam Jones	Baltimore Orioles
OF	J.D. Martinez	Detroit Tigers
DH	Prince Fielder	Texas Rangers
SP	Chris Archer	Tampa Bay Rays
SP	Sonny Gray	Oakland Athletics
SP	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners
SP	Dallas Keuchel	Houston Astros
SP	David Price	Detroit Tigers
SP	Chris Sale	Chicago White Sox
RP	Dellin Betances	New York Yankees
RP	Brad Boxberger	Tampa Bay Rays
RP	Zach Britton	Baltimore Orioles
RP	Wade Davis	Kansas City Royals
RP	Kelvin Herrera	Kansas City Royals
RP	Darren O'Day	Baltimore Orioles
RP	Glen Perkins	Minnesota Twins

National League Roster

Position	Starter	Team
Position	Reserve	Team
Position	Pitcher	Team
C	Buster Posey	San Francisco Giants
1B	Paul Goldschmidt	Arizona Diamondbacks
2B	Dee Gordon	Miami Marlins
3B	Todd Frazier	Cincinnati Reds
SS	Jhonny Peralta	St. Louis Cardinals
OF	Bryce Harper	Washington Nationals
OF	Giancarlo Stanton (Injured)	Miami Marlins
OF	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals
C	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals
C	Yasmani Grandal	Los Angeles Dodgers
1B	Anthony Rizzo	Chicago Cubs
1B	Adrian Gonzalez	Los Angeles Dodgers
2B	DJ LeMahieu	Colorado Rockies
2B	Joe Panik	San Francisco Giants
SS	Brandon Crawford	San Francisco Giants
3B	Nolan Arenado	Colorado Rockies
3B	Kris Bryant	Chicago Cubs
OF	*Andrew McCutchen (Starting for Stanton)	Pittsburgh Pirates
OF	Joc Pederson	Los Angeles Dodgers
OF	A.J. Pollock	Arizona Diamondbacks
OF	Justin Upton	San Diego Padres
SP	Max Scherzer	Washington Nationals
SP	Gerrit Cole	Pittsburgh Pirates
SP	Zack Greinke	Los Angeles Dodgers
SP	Shelby Miller	Atlanta Braves
SP	Jacob deGrom	New York Mets
SP	Madison Bumgarner	San Francisco Giants
SP	Michael Wacha	St. Louis Cardinals
SP	A.J. Burnett	Pittsburgh Pirates
SP	Carlos Martinez (Final Vote)	St. Louis Cardinals
RP	Trevor Rosenthal	St. Louis Cardinals
RP	Mark Melancon	Pittsburgh Pirates
RP	Aroldis Chapman	Cincinnati Reds
RP	Jonathan Papelbon	Philadelphia Phillies
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	Milwaukee Brewers

Best Stories

A.J. Burnett, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

A 38-year-old pitcher who considered retirement after a dreadful 2014, A.J. Burnett will make his first and final All-Star appearance.

After taking less money to reunite with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he stated his intentions on ending a career he began in 1999. 

“The past couple of years, it was year by year,” Burnett told Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal in February. “I thought about (retiring) a few years ago in New York. But now this is it. This is my last hurrah. I’m cool with that."

A year after weaving a 4.59 ERA with the Philadelphia Phillies, the veteran righty has registered a 1.99 ERA through 113 innings for Pittsburgh. Even with a diminished 94 strikeouts, he has performed better than ever due to a 54.4 ground-ball percentage and career-low 2.39 walks per nine innings.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, via ESPN.com, Burnett can become the fifth starting pitcher aged 38 or older to enter the break with an ERA below 2.00. To join Roger Clemens, Phil Niekro, Spud Chandler and Dutch Leonard, he'll need a strong showing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Prince Fielder, 1B, Texas Rangers

LM Otero/Associated Press

Before undergoing season-ending neck surgery last year, Prince Fielder had not missed a game from 2011-13. The slugger went from playing all but one contest in five years to sitting out 120 bouts. 

Even before succumbing to his first serious injury, the feared first baseman recorded a microscopic .360 slugging percentage in 2014. The Texas Rangers had no idea what to expect from a big-bodied 31-year-old under contract for six more seasons.

To their relief, they've received the Fielder of old. Serving primarily as the designated hitter, he's batting .345/.409/.530 with 14 homers. He's not exactly the guy who once belted 50 long balls, but he is pulling the ball less in hopes of remaining relevant once his strength wanes.

Although his rebound is fueled more by contact than power, Fielder will also participate in the Home Run Derby, per the team's Twitter page:

Everyone can blame/thank Fielder for blocking Alex Rodriguez from the American League roster. Two designated hitters is more than enough for a game operating under National League rules.

Joe Panik, 2B, and Brandon Crawford, SS, San Francisco Giants

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Here's a look at how the San Francisco Giants middle-infield pairing of Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford performed last season:

Player	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	WAR
Panik	287	.305	.343	.368	1	1.6
Crawford	564	.246	.324	.389	10	3.0

Now let's fast-forward to the present day, where both are All-Star reserves:

Player	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	WAR
Panik	353	.313	.375	.456	7	3.4
Crawford	324	.255	.326	.456	12	2.7

Granted, Panik received a helping hand from Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who made the second baseman one of his final selections. Yet it was hardly a charity case to choose a player leading the NL in WAR at his position.

Possessing the power to match his stellar glove, Crawford also should have received more recognition from the fans. Only Troy Tulowitzki—whose gripe in being left off the roster belongs with teammate DJ LeMahieu—holds a higher slugging percentage among shortstops.

He didn't make the cut, but Matt Duffy has also defied all reasonable expectations at third base. A bunch of supposedly light-hitting infielders are carrying the defending champion's offense with Hunter Pence sidelined.

Note: Advanced stats are courtesy of FanGraphs.