Tampa Bay Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart were chosen by fans as the winners of the Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote in record-shattering voting exclusively on MLB.com, joining as 32nd men for the 79th All-Star Game on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The announcement was just made in the last five minutes on MLB.com.

Baseball fans supported the 10 candidates named by All-Star managers Terry Francona and Clint Hurdle in unprecedented fashion by casting a record 47.8 million votes since the program commenced on Sunday, July 6 at 3:00 p.m. (EDT). This year's record number of votes represents an increase of 107 percent from the previous mark of 23.1 million set in 2007. Since its inception in 2002, the Monster All-Star Game Final Vote has now recorded nearly 130 million votes.

The American League winner, Longoria, received the highest total number of votes ever and led all vote-getters with nine million en route to becoming the second consecutive rookie to win the balloting, following Boston's Hideki Okajima last year. He was followed by Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox; Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees; Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles; and Jose Guillen of the Kansas City Royals.

On the National League ballot, Hart became the second Milwaukee player to win the Monster All-Star Game Final Vote by holding off a late charge from David Wright of the New York Mets to claim the final spot on the National League All-Star roster with a final tally of eight million votes. Hart and Wright were followed by Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies; Aaron Rowand of the San Francisco Giants; and Carlos Lee of the Houston Astros.

Previous winners of the Monster All-Star Game Final Vote include: Okajima (AL, 2007); Chris Young (NL, 2007); A.J. Pierzynski (AL, 2006); Nomar Garciaparra (NL, 2006); Scott Podsednik (AL, 2005); Roy Oswalt (NL, 2005); Hideki Matsui (AL, 2004); Bobby Abreu (NL, 2004); Jason Varitek (AL, 2003); Geoff Jenkins (NL, 2003); Johnny Damon (AL, 2002); and Andruw Jones (NL, 2002). More >

It's over.

Thank you for voting! You can relax a little bit now.

The Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote began at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday and balloting concluded at 5 p.m. today. What a week. There will be more than twice as many total votes as last year announced when the winners are revealed.

Those two winning nominees in the American and National League will be announced anytime now on MLB.com.

Fans will have the opportunity to participate in the official voting for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet at the 79th All-Star Game through the Monster 2008 All-Star Game MVP Vote on MLB.com.

It's 4:16 p.m. ET at this writing, and the Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote balloting ends at the top of the hour. Who will it be? Last chance to keep clicking by computer or sending in your mobile vote. The winners will be announced on MLB.com shortly thereafter.

At 10 a.m. today, MLB.com announced the the orders of player standings were unchanged but that it had evolved into a two-man race in each league at that point. Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay was narrowly leading Jermaine Dye of the White Sox, while Corey Hart of Milwaukee was still holding off David Wright of the Mets.

Keep voting!

The next Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote update tentatively is scheduled for around 10 a.m. ET on Thursday at MLB.com. Here are the leaders in the latest update.

The ballot closes at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday. A winner from each league will be announced on MLB.com shortly thereafter, bringing to 32 the total number of filled roster spots for the American and National Leagues.

It's going to be an incredible Thursday in Major League Baseball. What is your prediction for the final record vote total? You surpassed last year's four-day record total of 23.2 million HALFWAY through this year's Final Vote. It was more than 33 million after the last update at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Leave your predictions here as comments.

Keep voting and stay tuned.

Emails have come to MLB.com constantly throughout the process. We pulled many email addresses from the Final Vote database randomly late Tuesday night and emailed them, just to see what was on people's mind during this four-day process. The result was this story that has been up on MLB.com since Wednesday morning.

There wasn't room to include everyone, so here are other responses that have continued to come in -- as a quickie snapshot of what an MLB.com user out there is thinking:

I have been voting for David Wright about 100 times/day via the web and my cell phone. I have voted for him because he is the best 3rd basemen in the league and he deserves to be in there. I am probably about the craziest Mets fanatic you will meet. I wear Mets stuff almost everyday and my toenails are painted blue and orange from March-October. Go Mets and D-Wright you will get in cuz you are Da-Man!!!!
 
I love the Final Vote because it gives the players who should have been voted into the All-Star Game in the first place the chance to still get in and it gives the fans even more say.

Wendy Payne
Erie, PA

Meanwhile, Matt Geiman of Wellsville, Pa., wrote:

"I voted for Brian Roberts because I think out of all the candidates, he is the most deserving not because of being glamorous or showy, but because when it comes down to who is dependable, hardworking, you can always count on B-Rob. What impresses me the most is that he still looks up to others even though he is a veteran himself. I voted about 10-15 times.

"We love the final vote because it gives us a chance to make sure the person that truly deserves a spot gets one. The voting process was extremely easy and hassle free. I truly believe Brian Roberts deserves this spot on the team; no one deserves it more. I hope Brian wins!"

With more than 33 million votes cast, and everything from fake mustaches to candy hearts to club alliances and fan pacts becoming all the rage, the Monster 2008 All-Star Game Final Vote approached the final 24 hours Wednesday, and there was no change in the latest nominee standings. However, wild three-way races are emerging in both leagues.

As of 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria continued to hold off the charges of his closest two competitors in the American League, Jermaine Dye of the White Sox and Jason Giambi of the Yankees, as each had totaled more than 3.75 million votes. Brian Roberts of the Orioles and Jose Guillen of the Royals round out the current standings in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

On the National League side, Brewers outfielder Corey Hart remained atop the standings despite significant challenges from David Wright of the Mets and Pat Burrell of the Phillies. The top three candidates, who have each accumulated nearly 4 million votes, are followed by Aaron Rowand of the Giants and Carlos Lee of the Astros. More >

There are 24 hours left. Do you have this new Final Vote Widget on your own social media pages? If you have a free MLBlog here, just drop the Embed code into your text entry, using the Edit HTML icon on the right of your toolbar. Or just click a logo for one of the social networks included on the widget. You all know the ropes. It's 2008.

Note the candy "Hart" behind home plate...

Is it a political campaign office? No. It's the lobby of the Chicago White Sox headquarters at U.S. Cellular Field. It's hard to tell if Jermaine Dye is running down baseballs or running for office, but that is typical of the scene for 10 campaigns in the Final Vote. Let us know about any Final Vote campaign pic you might be posting.