|
NEW
YORK—This Major League Baseball All-Star Game never was
a matter of who or what or even how many. It was all
about where. This one was all about Yankee Stadium, a
baseball icon 10 years older than the All-Star Game
itself.
The game
itself was quite a show, too. By the time Dan Uggla made
his third error on J.D. Drew’s slow grounder with one
out in the 13th, only to have Carlos Marmol strand him
at second, it was not only historic, it was epic. When
it went to the 15th inning, it matched the 1967 All-Star
Game. In time, it was the longest ever, at four hours
and 50 minutes.
And
there were enough stalwarts left in the stands to make
noise at 1:37 a.m. Wednesday, when Michael Young’s
sacrifice fly against Brad Lidge brought home Justin
Morneau with a 4-3 American League (AL) victory.
Instantly, the speakers burst out “New York, New York,”
as if it were another Yankee game.
Drew of
the Boston Red Sox, who hit a two-run home run in the
seventh, was named the Most Valuable Player. The
American League is unbeaten in 12 consecutive All-Star
Games (11-0-1), so it does fit a pattern. Fact is,
though, there never was an All-Star Game like this one.
It was a
celebration of the structure—which will be torn down at
the end of the season—that baseball people kept calling
a “cathedral.” The pregame ceremony included dozens of
Hall of Famers, included raucous ovations for any
Yankee, past or present.
It ended
with four Yankees Hall of Famers—Yogi Berra, Whitey
Ford, Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage—throwing
ceremonial first pitches to Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez,
Mariano Rivera and Yankee manager Joe Girardi.
They
cheered even louder for Rivera in the 10th, when he
escaped a big jam (first and third, one out) by getting
Uggla to hit into a double play.
There
are all different kinds of Yankees icons, past or
present, breathing or man-made. This was an occasion to
celebrate all of them, especially the oldest, Yankee
Stadium. Sure enough, this celebration became another
reason to say why the place is so special.
Yankees
fans, as much a part of the stadium legacy as the
decorative frieze, got to let reviled Red Sox closer
Jonathan Papelbon really have it when he put the
American League behind, 3-2, in the eighth, then they
got to relish the sight of a New York Mets closer, Billy
Wagner, cough up that lead in the bottom of the inning.
Then
they got what they were waiting for, a chance to see
Rivera, a walking, talking Yankees icon, walk from the
bullpen to the mound. They roared with the first bars of
“Enter Sandman,” when Rivera made his way in with one
out and a runner on in the ninth of a 3-3 game.
“Mar-i-an-o” chants held their own with the closer’s
theme music. Chants of “Let’s go, Yankees!” went up as
he struck out Ryan Ludwick.
Many of
those fans were gone by the time the National League’s
Aaron Cook got out of a bases-loaded, no-outs situation
in the 10th (after two unsightly errors by Uggla at
second base) and the time National League (NL) center
fielder Nate McLouth threw out Dioner Navarro trying to
score what seemed the inevitable winning run in the
11th. Fewer still were there to see Cook strand Carlos
Guillen on third in the 12th (although the bleachers
still were packed).
Putting
it in theatrical terms, and the pregame ceremony was
nothing if not theatrical, this All-Star Game always was
going to be known more for its stage than its stars.
Yankee Stadium, in its final year, was meant to be the
headliner.
Major
League Baseball was determined to give the House That
Ruth Built a memorable sendoff, so it held a lavish and
moving pregame ceremony that featured 49 Hall of Famers—standing
at their old positions (designated hitter Paul Molitor
stood in front of second base)—joined on the field by
all the 2008 All-Stars.
Early in
the game, though, it looked as if the whole event was
worn out by the emotion and raucous cheering of that
ceremony—sort of like Josh Hamilton did after his
record-setting first round in the Home Run Derby on
Monday. Even jeers for Red Sox lost steam, although fans
did cheer when Carlos Zambrano flipped a breaking ball
over Manny Ramirez’s head.
The AL
improved to 6-0 since the All-Star Game began
determining homefield advantage in the World Series and
11-0-1 since its 1996 loss in Philadelphia. And it even
ended an old hex—it had been 0-9-1 in extra innings
against its older rival.
Still,
the NL leads, 40-37-2, overall.
“In the
last two hours, it wasn’t a whole lot of fun,” AL
manager Terry Francona said.
“It was
just crazy how it seemed like it lasted forever,”
Texas’s Ian Kinsler said. “It was the last year for
Yankee Stadium, the last All-Star Game, and it’s kind of
fitting that it seemed like it lasted forever.”
The NL
was given a pregame pep talk by Hall of Famer Ernie
Banks, whose motto is “Let’s play two!” And they nearly
did, matching the NL’s 2-1 win at Anaheim in 1967 for
the longest All-Star Game ever.
“Yankee
Stadium is tough, I’m telling you,” Yankees closer
Mariano Rivera said. “Didn’t want it to end.” |
