Oakland A's Press Release

Andrew Bailey Media Center

Oakland, CA - 2006 Wagner graduate and Oakland Athletics' closer Andrew Bailey was named to the American League All-Star team as a manager's pick by Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon. Bailey's inclusion in the 80th annual mid-season classic in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 14 caps a remarkable rise for the hard-throwing right-hander, who was not even on Oakland's 40-man roster heading into spring training.

Bailey (4-1; 2.03 ERA) has been outstanding in his first year out of the bullpen, leading all American League relievers with 57 strikeouts in 48.2 innings, spanning 37 games. The Haddon Heights, NJ native leads the Athletics in saves with nine and turned in scoreless outings in 13 of his last 14 appearances. During that time he is 7-of-8 in save situations while posting a 1.65 ERA over 16.1 innings of work with 19 strikeouts.

In a year of strong rookie performers, Bailey has the distinction of being the only first-year player selected for the midsummer classic. He is also Oakland's lone representative on the team, despite the fact the Athletics' roster is loaded with such established performers as Nomar Garciaparra (6x All-Star), Jason Giambi (5x All-Star) and Matt Holiday (3x All-Star).

Bailey was one of five American League relievers selected for the game, joining such luminaries as future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Brian Fuentes. Rivera recently captured his 500th career save and was an important part of four Yankee World Series Championship teams; Papelbon was on the mound when the Boston Red Sox captured the 2007 World Series;  Nathan, a member of the Minnesota Twins, played for Northeast rival Stony Brook, has 221 saves over the last five-plus seasons; Fuentes of the Los Angeles Angels leads the American League with 24 saves.

The game will broadcast by the Fox Network starting at 8:00 pm (EST) on Tuesday, July 14.

NOTES:

• Bailey is the only rookie in the All-Star game

• He is the only American League pitcher with less than five years of Major League experience.

• Bailey is the only pitcher on the American League team and one of just five players, who is currently making less than one million dollars per year.

• Alex Rodriguez ($33 million), Manny Ramirez ($23 million) will not be among the players.

• He is the fourth-youngest player on the American League roster and the second-youngest pitcher.

• Bailey is one of 16 American League players that attended college joining others from such powers as Arizona State (Pedroia), Georgia Tech (Teixeira), Mississippi State (Papelbon), Long Beach State (Longoria) and Oklahoma (Bartlett).

• He had never been named an All-Star at any professional level or in the Northeast Conference while at Wagner.

• Bailey is the sixth rookie in Oakland history to make the All-Star team, and the first since outfielder Ben Grieve in 1998.