Today's (and yesterday's) major league baseball all-star game was, in my opinion, one of the best in history. I'll give a big spoiler warning here to people who have taped it and plan to watch it later, but I've written a long, multi-page analysis of the game itself and some other aspects. It goes into detail about some innings and trivia, so unless you're a baseball fan, read only my summary.
*Spoilers*
Summary: Game was amazing, lasted a record amount of time, the team I was pulling for won, the player who scored the winning run was Canadian, and doing something very unorthodox would have won in a hilarious way.
The essay:
First, let me state that I was pulling for the AL all the way - not just going for whichever team was going to win. The AL had multiple Canadians on their side, including Home Run Derby winner Justin Morneau.
The opening singing of the US national anthem was terrible. I don't know if Sheryl Crow is a terrible singer or if her microphone was bad, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. The opening ceremonies were otherwise very charming, with appearances from almost 50 Hall of Fame players.
The first 4 innings went by stunningly fast, with only 8 minutes of game time that wasn't during commercial breaks. The announcers were talking about how at that rate, the game could set the record for the fastest all-star game or normal game ever. This later turned out to be quite ironic.
In the fifth inning, Holliday hit a monster home run, which disappointed me, as I was pulling for the AL. With the way the pitching had been, it would not have been stunning to have a 1-0 game - the only one other than 1968, the "year of the pitcher".
The AL was unsuccessful at scoring in the fifth, though they added yet another steal to their total. The game went on to set the record for most combined steals in a single game.
In the sixth, the National League scored again, making the situation look dire for the AL. However, they turned it around in the seventh, on J.D. Drew's barely-there homer, which scored Morneau from third.
In the eighth inning, Francona brought in Papelbon to pitch, greeted by massive boos from the New York crowd. Papel, the Red Sox closer, brought up ugly reminders of the team's rivalry with the hometown Yankees. Papelbon allowed an unearned run, leading to yet more boos and concerns for his safety. It was determined that if the AL lost, the crowd would blame Papelbon, and he would be escorted out by a squadron of police officers and security guards. A Yankees fan was brutally beaten by Bostonites weeks earlier, and it was feared Papelbon might be attacked as retribution.
However, the AL struck back in the bottom of the eighth, with Evan Longoria sending in a pitch-hit, 2-out, ground-rule double, which was made possible by Sizemore's stolen base. The game was tied at 3.
In the ninth inning, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera came in to pitch with one out and a runner on first, bringing massive cheers and hundreds of flashbulbs going per second. Rivera met expectations with a strike-out and caught stealing double play.
Ryan Dempster dominated the AL in the bottom of the ninth, striking out 3 in a row to push the game into extra innings.
Mariano Rivera got in trouble in the 10th, letting runners reach first and third with one out. However, Uggla grounded into a double play, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Uggla, rapidly becoming the goat of the game, let in 2 no-out errors, followed by a Carlos Guillen being intentionally walked. With no out and the bases loaded, it looked like the American league would take the game. However, 2 consecutive forces at home and a Morneau ground out, the game kept going.
The AL brought in a new pitcher (Joakim Soria) to start the 11th, raising concerns that they were running low on pitchers. Francona, the AL manager, was planning to avoid pitching Scott Kazmir if at all possible, as he had thrown 104 pitches 2 days ago. Not only had the AL run low on pitchers, they were entirely out of other position players, keeping the same men on the field for the rest of the game. Soria got 3 outs in the 11th uneventfully.
In the bottom of the 11th, the AL team got a nice start, with a single by Kinsler. However, Kinsler was caught stealing. Navarro walked and J.D. Drew singled, bringing Navarro to second. However this led to a problem: With one out and 2 on, there was a good scoring situation. However, Navarro was a quite slow runner, and there was no one left to pinch run. I had the perfect solution:
Send in Kazmir to pinch run.
It sounds insane, but it would work. Francona had said he would try hard to not have Kazmir pitch, and this would still be within that parameter. Kazmir was clearly quicker than Navarro, and it would, in fact, have won the game to bring him in: Navarro was thrown out at home on an outfield hit, which Kazmir could surely have legged out.
The game went on and on, entering the 15th inning. The longest all-star game ever, incidentally, went 15 fully innings. At this point, the AL was down to their last pitcher: Scott Kazmir. They brought him in to pitch, but it was generally thought that Francona would forfeit soon to prevent injuring Kazmir. Kazmir ended the inning quickly, perhaps meaning he would be allowed to pitch a couple more.
But there was no need. A new battery was brought in for the National League team, with Brad Lidge pitching and Brian McCann catching. Morneau, the Canadian star, led off with a single, made it to third on a single and walk, and scored on a 1-out sacrifice fly.
That's the ballgame, and it was quite a thrill. It lasted 4 hours and 50 minutes, the longest of any all-star game, ever. I expect greatly lowered productivity in workplaces across New York tomorrow. I still stand by my opinion that Kazmir should have pinch-run for Navarro in the 11th, but as the AL won anyways, we may never know what effect the move truly would have had.
