July 16, 2003

It was nice to see the Yankees well represented at the 74th annual MLB All-Star Game in Chicago. For those of you who missed it you missed a great game. It seemed that Dusty Baker made all the right early moves, but it was AL Manager Mike Scioscia who made the right moves when it counted.

Most of the experts had the National League mailing in a victory, because they felt that if the NL had a lead going into the late innings Baker only had to rely on his trio of closers, Atlanta's John Smoltz, Houston's Billy Wagner or LA's Eric Gagne. Unfortunately for Baker, a guy named "Murphy" stuck his nose into the proceedings. In the 8th inning, with Eric Gagne on the mound, the AL had Toronto's Vernon Wells on second when the Rangers' Hank Blalock came to the plate to pinch hit for the Angels' Troy Glaus. Gagne, as he usually does, threw Blalock the heater and Blalock promptly deposited it over the right field wall to give the AL a 7-6 lead. The lead stood up and the American League won home field advantage for the World Series.

The evening started off with mixed reviews. The players, managers and coaches were introduced. The best part was watching the Yankees' Jorge Posada's son come out of the dugout and low fiving all the AL starters. That kid is so cute. He was dressed up like his daddy and looked like he could have played a few innings. The flyover was terrific and then came the National Anthem. It was sung by a young lady, who in my humble opinion, would have been roasted over an open fire pit by American Idol's Simon Cowell. She sang horribly and she dressed as well as she sung. She should have checked a mirror before going out in front of a national television audience with what she wore. Mr. Blackwell would have been gnashing his teeth. She wore tight hip-hugging pants and a top that showed her midriff. It was not a midriff that should have been revealed. Fortunately, she only sang the anthem once.

The game started out a pitcher's duel as only one run was scored in the first 4-1/2 innings. That came on Carlos Delgado's RBI single, scoring Ichiro Suzuki. Then came the bottom of the 5th inning and Shiggy Hasegawa. Hasegawa gave up 4 runs on 2/3 of an inning and after it was all said and done the NL had built up a 5-1 lead. Now those closers the NL had in the bullpen were looming large.

However, there was no quit in the American League dugout. They chipped away slowly. In the bottom of the 6th the AL's Alex Rodriguez got an infield hit, bring up Garret Anderson. Anderson hit a shot over the right-centerfield fence off the NL's Woody Williams, cutting the NL lead to 5-3. The NL countered in the top of the 7th as Andruw Jones hit a solo shot off Mark Mulder giving the NL a 6-3 lead. That's where things started going the American League's way.

In the bottom of the 7th frame Houston's Billy Wagner came in to pitch and with 2 outs Jason Giambi homered to make the score 6-4. The AL held the NL in the top of the 8th setting up the eventually game winning rally for the American League. With one on Eric Gagne relieved Billy Wagner. Gagne pitched to Vernon Wells who doubled in Melvin Mora. The American League pulled within one run when Scioscia pulled off his best move of the night. He sent up Hank Blalock to bat for Troy Glaus as Glaus had gone 0-3. Blalock worked Gagne to a 3-1 count when Gagne tried to blow the heater by him. Blalock jumped on it and sent it out over the right field wall giving the American League a 7-6 lead. Dusty Baker never got to John Smoltz. Brenden Donnelly came in for the American League in the top of the 9th and finished off the National League 1-2-3. Donnelly earned the win and Gagne took the loss.

Roger Clemens, who originally wasn't slated to be at the game, answered a call from his general manager, Brian Cashman, who told him they needed another arm at the game. Clemens was at his vacation home in Texas when the call came. Clemens gathered his family around him and they gave him their approval to go. Clemens fought a hurricane and made it in time to pitch a scoreless 3rd inning. It was a typical Roger Clemens performance.

Bud Selig, I am sure, gave a big sigh of relief as to how the game turned out. It was one of the best all-star games ever. It had drama, scoring, entertainment and the crowd in attendance got to see two of the best managers in baseball counter each other move for move.

The only thing now, left in suspense, is who is going to be the beneficiary of the home field advantage in the World Series. I am hoping it's the Yankees.