What a Night!

Of all the All-Star games, the Major League Baseball All-Star game is the greatest. MLB always does such a great job of celebrating baseball, and that was so true last night.

In this final year of Yankee Stadium, the pre-game was amazing. 49 Hall of Fame players were on the field. The only negative was the Nolan Ryan was not there. There may have never been a greater collection of players on one field. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ralph Kiner, Yogi Berra, Brooks Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, and many more were all represented.

Yankee Stadium is a special place, and I’m sad to see it go in a few months, but this was such an appropriate way to give the building one more great moment.

Then came the game. Yes, I’m one of those who actually watched the entire game. I got to bed at 12:38 AM, but it was worth it. It was easily the best All-Star game I’ve ever seen.

However, I really think the game both provided the best, and hinted at the worst, about professional sports today.

First, the best. The play was fantastic. Despite three errors from Dan Uggla, I don’t think I’ve ever seen better defense in an All-Star game. There were plays at the plate, beautiful infield strategy, and even a pick-off (a rarity in All-Star games). The pitching was clutch. I usually like higher-scoring games, but there were runners on all the time, so it was exciting. Every player seemed to be into the game and really put forth the effort that this game deserves. In fact, every available player was involved in the game (Tim Lincecum could not play, after he was placed in the hospital earlier in the day), and all played quite well. It was great to see.

But, while the play was great, the thought kept coming to mind–and then started to be commented on–about the availability of pitchers. Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay) and Brandon Webb (Arizona) were the last starting pitchers left, but both had pitched on Sunday. They were only available for a few pitches each. Webb, in fact, pitched the 14th inning, but that was all. Kazmir threw the 15th for the American League, and was available for the 16th (had it been played), but that most likely would have been all for him.

Why do I call this the “worst” about professional sports? I’m taking nothing away from Webb or Kazmir. This was not up to them. However, the coaches and teams had talked. With the amount of money invested in these players, there is no way they want their pitchers “worn out” from an exhibition game.

I couldn’t help but notice that this game tied the longest All-Star game (by number of innings), which was played in 1967. The losing pitcher of that game was Catfish Hunter, but he was in his fifth inning of relief! Can you imagine that happening now?

Players deserve to make whatever they can make, but it hurts games like the one last night. It’s easy to play the “what if?” game, but what if last night’s game had gone to a 16th or even a 17th inning? No one could have pitched.

With that said, I’m glad it didn’t. I’m glad it ended the way it did (especially since the American League won…again). It was a great, great game. I hope you stayed up to watch it. I hope your kids saw at least the pregame show.

What a night!