July 11, 2002
Wow, people are really getting bent out of shape over this thing, aren't they? Everyone's ready to string up Bud Selig by his short-'n'-curlies. My take? Who could possibly care that much?
I mean, this is the All-Star game. It was created as a mid-summer diversion, to let the fans see their favorite players square off against each other for a game. From all accounts (I didn't watch) it was a really good game -- home runs being brought back by a fielder jumping at the wall, plenty of strike-outs, a couple home runs and some stolen bases. But Joe Torre (of the Yankees, managing the American League) and Bob Brenley (of the Diamondbacks, managing the National League) used up all their pitchers in the first nine innings. Actually, they used all of their players, both position players and pitchers, but the other eight guys can play indefinitely. When you run out of pitchers, you're boned.
And Selig made the right decision. It may not have been the most right decision, but it was right: There's no reason to risk injuring a player for a meaningless game just to avoid having a tied game. Someone suggested a penalty-kicks-style home run derby using the batting-practive pitcher, but that seems even sillier to me than "AL 7, NL 7 (F/11)." So get over it already; it just ain't that important.
But the Ted Williams All-Star MVP... that was a world-class cock-up. The MVP doesn't have to come from the winning team; which player did the most to get his team where it was? That guy gets the award. Instead we have an award, freshly renamed after a very famous player who just died, and nobody received it. Sorry, Bud, you deserve to be raked over the coals for that one.
But that's OK, either there's going to be a strike to cancel the World Series this year, or a lockout that wipes out half the season next year. Compared to that, even the most outraged of fans will consider this dust-up small potatoes.
Update: Hmm, maybe some thing don't die as quickly as I would like to think. From ESPN.com:
Not yet spent, the crowd managed to rain some debris down on the field, Dawg Pound-style.
Oops.
