Strangely enough, there was actually a baseball game last night. After the hoopla of the Home Run Derby and celebrities playing softball, there was a really good ballgame. It had pitching, clutch hitting and defense, all jammed into fifteen innings at Yankee Stadium.
As much as I may not understand Bud Selig, the product he put on the field yesterday was exciting and dramatic. And, for once, it was all about the baseball. The game even ended with the ultimate bit of poetic justice- Boston outfielder J.D. Drew accepting the MVP honors, as well as a large white SUV.
And it wasn’t a slugfest- not at all. We saw some very impressive pitching performances from non-household names such as Aaron Cook, George Sherrill, Carlos Marmol and Joakim Soria. We saw some fantastic defense from Russell Martin, Nate McLouth and Cristian Guzman. We even saw Red Sox manager Terry Francona sweating bullets over the pitch count of rival ace Scott Kazmir. All in all, the game ended at the perfect time. This much is clear- ties are not, nor have they ever been, acceptable.
My favorite moment was when Evan Longoria tied the score with an eighth inning double that got Jonathan Papelbon off the hook. Make no mistake, Papelbon shouldn’t have even suggested Mariano Rivera wasn’t the AL closer. But the chants of “overrated” and general confusion over whether to root for or against the Boston closer reminded me why I despise Yankee fans.
If there was one player I felt sick for, it was Dan Uggla. In four plate appearances, Uggla managed three strikeouts. The one time he put the ball in play, it resulted in a double play. In the field, Uggla made three errors. Fortunately for the Marlins infielder, Fox was kind enough to zoom in on his bewildered face after every misstep.
But Uggla probably didn’t have the worst experience. That belonged to Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. Considered a strong candidate to start the game, Lincecum ended up not even attending. Instead, he was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms and dehydration.
Nevertheless, that was a great All-Star Game. But the best is yet to come. Good-bye Yankee Stadium. Enjoy the bulldozers.
NL got owned they are more than snakebit, I mean, 12 years in row they’ve lost to the AL? that’s some streak.
At least this was a game… we saw great players get a lot of appearances, whcih is all too rare at the AS game. Unfortunately, it ended will into the next day EST and I didn’t see the final inning. Oh well, at least the NL put up a fight in yet another losing effort. If it weren’t for the pitchers, wouldn’t this game be better if the best players from each league got to play most of the game? Maybe a twenty man roster is the way to go, but the each of the five SPs get into the game?