Umpires Starting lineups Game summary The American League jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning led by a home run by Edgar Martínez of the Seattle Mariners. No one would score after that until the 7th inning when Javy López of the Atlanta Braves would tie the game with a home run of his own. However, in the bottom of the 7th, Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees walked and then Sandy Alomar Jr. of the Cleveland Indians hit a home run to give the American League the lead and the win, as they held on to defeat the National League 3-1. All the runs were driven in and scored by players either born (Alomar, López & Williams) or raised (Martinez) in Puerto Rico. Winning pitcher José Rosado's family roots are also from that island. The loudest ovation of the All-Star Game, which came early in the player introductions, was reserved for Kenny Lofton, whom the Indians had traded to the Atlanta Braves prior to the start of the 1997 season. Lofton was on the National League roster, but was injured and did not play. Also in the pregame ceremonies,
Albert Belle, who was representing the
Chicago White Sox, was booed for leaving the Indians as a free agent the previous winter. Unlike past years, the performance of
O Canada, this year by the
McAuley Boys, was not televised. Instead, the
Fox network, airing its first All-Star Game, went into a commercial break, resulting in angry phone calls from Canadian television viewers. The Canadian National Anthem was later shown on
tape delay after the game in the Cleveland area. Country star
LeAnn Rimes sang the
National Anthem following the commercial break. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of baseball's breaking of the color barrier, the ceremonial first pitch featured former Indian
Larry Doby, the first African-American player to play in the American League. One of the more colorful moments in All-Star Game history occurred during an
at bat with
Randy Johnson of the
Seattle Mariners pitching and
Larry Walker of the
Colorado Rockies at the plate. The teams of the two former
Montreal Expos teammates had faced each other about one month prior. However, when Johnson started on June 12, Walker chose not to play, explaining that, "I faced Randy one time in
spring training and he almost killed me." In this All-Star Game, Walker batted against Johnson, who theatrically threw over his head. Ever adaptable, Walker placed his
batting helmet backwards and switched sides in the batters' box to stand
right-handed for one pitch. He ended the at bat by drawing a walk. The incident momentarily drew mirth and laughter from players in both
dugouts,
fans and announcers, and comparisons to Johnson pitching against
John Kruk in the
1993 All-Star Game, in which he also threw over his head. In spite of garnering a reputation of avoiding Johnson, Walker batted .393 (11 hits in 28 at bats) against him in his career, nearly double the rate of all left-handed batters at .199. Alomar was named MVP of the game, becoming the first player to win the All Star Game MVP award as a member of the host team (
Pedro Martínez in 1999 and
Shane Bieber in 2019 would later win MVP awards in their home ballparks). After the game, Major League Baseball CEO
Paul Beeston presented Alomar with the MVP Award in lieu of the
Commissioner of Baseball, who would not be named until after the
next All-Star Game, when then-Chairman of the Executive Committee
Bud Selig was officially named Commissioner. This was the last All-Star Game in which the
Milwaukee Brewers were a member of the American League. The Brewers moved to the National League for the 1998 season. ==Footnotes and references==