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All-Star Game took forever but had staying power

Ken Davidoff

July 17, 2008

If they were unhappy, they hid it well.

The world's best baseball players - and, we all assume, the biggest prima donnas - had just finished a marathon All-Star Game, with the American League prevailing in a 4-3, 15-inning contest that took four hours and 50 minutes at Yankee Stadium.

The longest ever All-Star Game, at a time when baseball is getting crushed for how long it takes to complete action. Perfect.

But in both clubhouses, you didn't see any weariness around 2 a.m. yesterday. No, you saw ballplayers who expressed excitement over what they had just experienced.

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"We're All-Stars," Mariano Rivera said, smiling. "Everybody's great."

What could have been a nightmare - and, to be fair, felt like one at times - instead became a classic Midsummer Classic. The AL will have the World Series home-field advantage once more, and you'd have to be supremely cynical to think, as the game crept into the middle of the night, that the "This Time It Counts" plot line didn't contribute to the tension.

"I think what's at stake makes it more important," AL manager Terry Francona said. "You know, if there's nothing at stake besides the win or loss, it ends up being a little of an exhibition game. I know I felt it, I mean, the responsibility."

That's music to Bud Selig's ears. The commissioner instituted the format because the All-Star Game had lost its juice (reference to the steroids era fully intended). There have been six games played under this banner, and four have been highly entertaining.

Really, what a game this turned out to be, after a lackluster first 6 1/2 innings.

There was the tying, two-run homer by J.D. Drew in the seventh. The ferocious boos of Jonathan Papelbon by the locals, even though Papelbon pitched for their team. Billy Wagner blowing yet another save. Ay yi yi, Billy. If the Mets somehow make it to the World Series ...

And then, the extra innings, which proved anything but boring.

So many scoring opportunities! Some terrific pitching and defense to keep the game going.

You know, as Houston's Miguel Tejada played with a great amount of energy, Selig had to wonder to himself: "This guy took illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and now he plays hard in an All-Star Game I want finished. Why can't he do the opposite for both?"

Both teams were on their last pitchers, Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir and the Phillies' Brad Lidge, and apparently, had the game continued, they would've gone to position players. Francona said he considered using Drew. NL manager Clint Hurdle said he engaged the Mets' David Wright in a discussion about pitching, joking that if Wright was so anxious to play in the game, he should be ready to pitch.

Wright said he would've done it. "I would've wanted to get one out," he said, "just so I could have an ERA in the All-Star Game."

Yes, the home-field advantage would've been determined by a J.D. Drew-David Wright pitching matchup, and that's not great. You want to tweak the rules concerning the availability of pitchers? You want to add pitchers to the roster? Fine. Remember, though, this was a fluke. We probably won't see another 15-inning All-Star Game in our lifetimes.

You're forgiven if you think the commissioner is full of horse manure when he says that they couldn't give the World Series advantage to the team with the better record. I agree with you. However, I also think that the All-Star Game is so much better as a result of this switch.

We used to see players fleeing for the exits, and look, not everyone sticks around. Alex Rodriguez took off. Nevertheless, the majority of the guys stuck around, and stood on the top step of their respective dugouts, and took this all in.

And that's a great development for this game, great enough that we can tolerate the illogical equation that puts the AL in the driver's seat for the championship once more today.