South Atlantic League All-Star Game set for Tuesday in Salisbury

The Orioles' Single-A Delmarva affiliate is getting set to host the South Atlantic League All-Star Game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. The Shorebirds last hosted this game in 1999. We will have full coverage from the game Tuesday on MASNsports.com with pregame, in-game and postgame reports. Orioles Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver will headline Fan Fest that day which will take part in the stadium parking lot beginning at 2:30 p.m. Weaver is scheduled to appear at Fan Fest from 3:30 to 5:30 to sign autographs and interact with fans. Weaver will also serve as an honorary manager and participate in the home plate meeting before the game to exchange the lineup cards. Fans must have an all-star game ticket in order to attend Fan Fest. In order to get an autograph from Weaver, the Shorebirds are asking fans to donate two non-perishable canned food items or make a monetary donation to the "Strike Out Hunger" campaign. "We are so excited to have a legendary manager coming to the 2011 South Atlantic League Strike Out Hunger All-Star Game," said Shorebirds general manager Chris Bitters. "Fan Fest will have something for everyone to enjoy." As part of Fan Fest, Northern Division All-Stars will sign autographs from 3:15-4:05 p.m. and Southern Division participants will sign from 4:15-5:05 p.m. The home run derby, which will pit the best home run hitters in the league against each other, will begin at 5:30 p.m.. Here are the players scheduled for the home run derby: Northern Division: Bryce Harper (Hagerstown) Anthony Hewitt (Lakewood) Jim Murphy (Lakewood) Brady Shoemaker (Kannapolis) Trayce Thompson (Kannapolis) Southern Division: Adam Bailey (Lexington) Adam Duvall (Augusta) Bryce Massanari (Asheville) Kyle Parker (Asheville) Chris Wallace (Lexington) Delmarva will have five players on the Northern Division squad with infielders Manny Machado and Ty Kelly, catcher Michael Ohlman and pitchers Jacob Petit and David Walters. The game will also feature the top three picks from the 2010 draft in Hagerstown's Bryce Harper, West Virginia's Jameson Taillon and Machado. Before the festivities begin that day at the stadium, the All-Star Game Luncheon will be held at the Fountains Wedding & Conference Center from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Frank Perdue will be inducted into the prestigious South Atlantic League Hall of Fame along with former Gastonia Rangers player and Orioles manager Mike Hargrove and former Asheville Tourists Manager Ray Hathaway. Orioles team president Andy MacPhail will speak at the luncheon. Recent SAL all-stars include current major league players such as Josh Hamilton ('00 - Charleston RiverDogs), Jason Heyward ('08 - Rome Braves), Madison Bumgarner ('08 - Augusta GreenJackets), Brad Bergesen ('07 - Delmarva Shorebirds), Elvis Andrus ('06 - Rome Braves), Brian Wilson ('05 - Augusta GreenJackets), Ben Zobrist ('05 - Lexington Legends), Eric Young, Jr. ('06 - Asheville Tourists) and Andrew McCutchen ('06 - Hickory Crawdads). Only general admission tickets, priced at $11 each, remain for Tuesday's game. For info about tickets, call the Shorebirds at 410-219-3112 and check here throughout the day Tuesday for extensive coverage of O's and Nats' participants in the game and the game itself.