AL All-Stars to Read LATE SHOW 'Top 10' List, 7/9

On Monday, July 9, 10 members of the American League All-Star Team will present the Top Ten List on the LATE SHOW via satellite from Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City where the 2012 All-Star Game will be played the following evening (Tuesday, July 10). Among the All-Stars participating in the LATE SHOW Top Ten List are Derek Jeter from the New York Yankees, David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox, Jose Bautista from the Toronto Blue Jays, Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers, Joe Mauer from the Minnesota Twins, David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays, Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox, Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers and Adam Jones from the Baltimore Orioles.

R.A. Dickey, the right-handed knuckleballer from the New York Mets who was named to his first-ever All-Star team this year as a pitcher for the National League, will make his first visit to the LATE SHOW, Wednesday, July 11, the day after the All-Star Game. This season, Dickey has an impressive 2.15 ERA, with 12 wins, one loss and 116 strikeouts. He was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending May 27, 2012, became the first Major League pitcher since 1988 and the first National League pitcher since 1944 to throw two consecutive one-hitters, and also became only the third pitcher in MLB history to have two complete game one-hitters with 12 or more strikeouts in one season, and is the only pitcher to do it in back-to-back starts. On June 24, Dickey’s dominant streak of consecutive scoreless innings was snapped at 44-1/3 innings in the Mets’ game against the New York Yankees.

Dickey is featured, with Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield in the new documentary film “Knuckleball!,” which premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. It chronicles the pitchers’ 2011 season, as well as interviews with knuckleball greats Phil Niekro, Charlie Hough, Wilbur Wood, Jim Bouton and Tom Candiotti about the unique art of the knuckleball pitch. Dickey is also the co-author, with writer Wayne Coffey, of his acclaimed memoir, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball, which chronicles his struggles through the major leagues to become one of the premier pitchers in the National League.

The LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN is a production of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. Barbara Gaines, Matt Roberts, Jude Brennan, Maria Pope, Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel and Rob Burnett are the executive producers.

Photo courtesy of CBS