Tickets to mid-summer classic will be sold via lottery

DETROIT -- Tickets to the All-Star game on July 12 at Comerica Park will be sold via an online lottery and will be available only in combination with tickets to other All-Star Week events.

Fans can sign up for a chance to purchase tickets on baseball's website or any team's website starting May 11, the commissioner's office and the Tigers said Wednesday,

Tim Brosnan, executive vice president for business in the commissioner's office, said available tickets will depend on how many Tigers season ticket holders choose to take their seats.

All-Star voting began Wednesday night at Comerica Park.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said the All-Star game, which comes about seven months before Detroit hosts the Super Bowl, will be a great opportunity to showcase the city's development.

"This is a chance for Detroit to highlight what goes on in the city in the summertime," he said. "When people think about Detroit, they think about winter -- they think it's winter all year long."

Kilpatrick said construction projects around the city will be halted for the week of the All-Star game, and the sites temporarily cleaned up.

Detroit last hosted the All-Star game in 1971 at Tiger Stadium. The game also was played at Detroit in 1941 and 1951. The 2006 game will be in Pittsburgh and the 2007 game in San Francisco.