Wow! That was quite a game last night. Great pitching. Great defense (sans Dan Uggla). Terrible timely hitting. Extra innings. Drama. Controversy. The game had it all. Only thing missing was the game ending in another tie. And as the game got further along into extra innings, I'm sure there was growing concern among some people that we were headed for that. Fortunately, one of the teams found a way to squeak in a run just when it was needed most. Final score: American League 4, National League 3, 15 innings.
Among the solid pitching performances were starters Ben Sheets and Cliff Lee, Carlos Zambrano and Dan Haren of the National League, who all pitched two scoreless innings, and Aaron Cook and George Sherrill, who pitched three and two and a third scoreless innings in extra innings, respectively. And it was Cook's three that was most impressive in light of having to work himself out of two nasty jams, one being a bases loaded, no-out fiasco in the 11th inning.
The defense was stellar all night, but Russell Martin and Miguel Tejada stole the show with two great plays each in the 11th inning, sharing one of the plays when Martin threw out Ian Kinsler trying to steal second base being covered by Tejada. Nate McLouth also threw out a runner at home plate in that 11th inning. Dan Uggla, however, had a rough night, committing three errors in the game, two on back-to-back grounders late in the game that almost gave the American League the game.
There were plenty of hits throughout the game, but as far as getting the runners across home plate? Forget it. Twenty-eight runners were stranded combined, with the American League leaving 17 of them. J.D. Drew might have had the biggest at-bat of the night, when he connected off Cincinnati pitcher Edison Volquez for a game-tying, two-run homerun in the 7th inning. Each team would get a run in the 8th inning, and the National League came close in the 9th off Mariano Rivera. Even though they didn't score in the inning, Russell Martin had the best at-bat of the night, when he battled Rivera by fouling off a handful of pitches, taking the count to 3-2, then singling to right field with one out.
The game had all sorts of drama and controversy, as well. But in the end, the American League won for the sixth straight time, and are unbeaten in twelve straight, including the laughable tie in 2002. The game tied the longest game in All-Star history, lasting 15 innings, but it was the longest game as far as the time goes. The game officially lasted four hours and 50 minutes, ending at nearly 2am ET.
The best part of the night had to have been the pre-game festivities, when 40 Hall of Fame All-Stars were introduced before the game by position. As the All-Star legends were introduced by position, the starters were introduced with them, in a new twist to announcing the starters for the game. But to see last night's starters stand next to legends at their own positions, such as Yogi Berra, Mike Schmidt, Gaylord Perry, Whitey Ford, Willie McCovey, Willy Mays, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ernie Banks and Tommy Lasorda, was pretty darn cool. Only in New York could hey have pulled it off, and only in the very last All-Star Game in the very last season in "The House That Ruth Built" could they have pulled it off.
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Now, the night before was another night to remember, but it expemplified why the Home Run Derby is farce. The rules of the Derby are each of the starting eight hitters get 10 outs in each of the rounds. The top four totals in the first round move on to the second, and the top two move into the finals from the second round. But the first round totals are carried over into the second round, and then the totals are wiped out in the final round when they start over. This is where it needs to be changed.
Josh Hamilton put on a display at Yankee Stadium on Monday night that I don't think anyone will ever forget. He finished the first round with an astounding 28 homeruns, four more than any other player has ever hit in any round. And it wasn't just the number of homeruns he hit, it was the distance of these bombs. Hamilton hit one that landed 518' away from home plate, hitting the back wall in the right-center field bleachers. He hit two or three more that landed over 500' away. And at one point, he hit 13 in a row. By the time he was done in the first round, and the next best three finished their second rounds, Hamilton still had more than any of the others., even before he started his second round, which he eventually did not finish. When all was said and done, Hamilton and Justin Morneau moved on to the finals. And here's were it gets mirky.
Morneau hit a total of five homeruns in the last round. Add that to what he hit in the first two rounds, he wouldn't have come close to beating Hamilton. But because you start over at 0 in the final round, Hamilton, who only hit three homeruns in the final round, would lose the derby to Morneau.
To me it's a shame because he had the entire stadium on their feet in the first round cheering him on, applauding him like he were one of the Yankees. And really, in my eyes, he won the derby. No one will ever forget the display he put on, and those who were there will remember his incredible display in the first round more than Morneau winning 5-3 in the final round. Josh Hamilton is my Home Run Derby Champion.
And because of what I witnessed on television on Monday night, I now have a legitimate reason, besides the fact the Rangers are 50-46 and playing some solid baseball, to go to at least one Rangers game before this season ends.
