Five former Salem players headed to MLB All-Star Game

When the Major League Baseball All-Star teams were announced Tuesday night, there certainly was some local flavor for fans of baseball in Salem.

Five players who spent part of their minor league careers here were selected.

Outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. will make his first all-star game appearance after recording a 29-game hitting streak in the first half of the season for the Boston Red Sox. Bradley is a former first-round draft pick.

Mookie Betts, a part of Salem's 2013 Carolina League championship team, is also headed to the mid-summer Classic in San Diego. Betts hit five homers in two games in early June.

Those two are joined in the game by Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who played for the Salem Sox in 2012.

Anthony Rizzo suited up in Salem during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He led all of the National League in the voting with more than 3.2 million votes.

And Rizzo's Chicago teammate Ben Zobrist is in as well. Zobrist played for the Salem Avalanche in 2005 and 2006 as part of the Astros organization.