Extra-Inning All-Star Game Highlighted By Pregame Ceremonies

Ernie Banks (l), Cal Ripken Jr. (c) Among The 49 HOFers Taking Part In Pregame Ceremony

OH, WHAT A NIGHT: In N.Y., George King writes MLB "promised the ultimate All-Star Game show last night at Yankee Stadium and delivered a performance that won't be forgotten" (N.Y. POST, 7/16). In St. Petersburg, John Romano writes it was a "perfect Tuesday evening in the grandest theater in baseball," and it was "all wrapped inside one of the greatest All-Star Games in memory" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/16). In West Palm Beach, Dave George writes the "entire event played out as if in Cooperstown's ZIP code. Walking artifacts, a stunning parade of 49 [HOF] members gave their own special benediction to Yankee Stadium." The HOFers "pumped up an already epic affair" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/16). In Seattle, Larry Stone writes last night's "absolutely stirring pregame show" featured "enough spine-tingling standing ovations to satisfy any diva." Twins 1B Justin Morneau, who scored the winning run, said, "I defy anyone to have watched the unveiling of so much immortality without getting tingles" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/16). In DC, Dave Sheinin writes the pregame ceremony "summoned every remaining ounce of romanticism the old ballyard could muster" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/16). In Toronto, Richard Griffin writes the night was about the HOFers, "their history, their memories and their traditions. The 79th All-Star Game was somehow incidental." The entire night was "about the history and the legends" (TORONTO STAR, 7/16). In N.Y., Mark Feinsand writes when the game ended, the ballpark was "half-empty, a stark contrast to earlier Tuesday when a packed house paid tribute to baseball's cathedral with a cavalcade of stars -- past and present -- on display." Yankee Stadium was "loaded with some of the greatest talent the game has ever seen for the pregame ceremony," and the "biggest ovations were reserved" for Mays, Wade Boggs, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Reggie Jackson (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/16). Fox' Joe Buck said before the game, "The pregame ceremony has every bit of a chance as being as good, if not better, as the game itself because we are highlighting the history of the game" ("PTI," ESPN, 7/15).

Steinbrenner Makes First Appearance At Yankee Stadium Since Opening Day

Yankees Honor Murcer Prior To All-Star Game

NOT QUITE UP TO PAR: ESPN.com's Jim Caple writes the occasion "fell short of matching the similar ceremony" before the '99 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, when MLB honored its All-Century team. Despite the 49 HOFers present, the ceremony was "also notable for its many absences," including Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Sandy Koufax, Joe Morgan, Stan Musial, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and Carl Yastrzemski. In comparison, the '99 event "could only have been topped had the players entered the ballpark through a cornfield." While Steinbrenner rode around the park in a golf cart like Baseball HOFer Ted Williams did in '99, it "didn't quite have the same sentimental tug as Teddy Ballgame's last national public appearance." Caple also writes the ceremony was "too much a blatant copy of the Fenway moment" (ESPN.com, 7/16).

THEY COULD STILL BE PLAYING: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said the game "would have been played to its conclusion" regardless of when it ended. Selig ordered the '02 All-Star Game to end in a tie after the 11th inning, but he said of a potential tie, "It would not happen again." Selig: "I don't mind telling you I did a lot of pacing. ... It all worked out in the end. There's no sense playing the 'What ifs?' Everyone understood the ground rules. We were playing the game to the conclusion" (SI.com, 7/16). ESPN.com's Jayson Stark writes Selig and MLB officials "were beginning to get ... apoplectic" because it "began to dawn on all of them that a night carefully designed to be the ultimate All-Star showcase had a reasonable chance to turn into the ultimate All-Star nightmare: A tie. An Uh-Oh-This-Time-It-Didn't-Count-After-All tie that threw both the Midsummer Classic and the entire postseason into chaos" (ESPN.com, 7/16).

DOES THE GAME NEED FIXING? ESPN's Jeff Chadiha said the concept of the winning All-Star team earning home-field advantage in the World Series has "become more unpopular with each passing year” since it was instituted in '03. Chadiha: “(MLB) did it because Fox liked the idea, and then Bud Selig decided to keep the trend going through 2011. The bottom line is that it doesn’t make the players play any harder” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 7/15). SPORTINGNEWS.com's Sean Deveney before the game wrote under the header, "Home-Field Advantage: There Has To Be A Better Way." MLB "asks fans to believe that the game counts, but it obviously doesn't to the players. We should not be forced to participate in a charade like this" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/15).  But SPORTINGNEWS.com's John Rawlings wrote an opposing article under the header, "Let The All-Stars Decide Home-Field Advantage." The All-Star Game's "link to the [World] Series does ... make an impact on players, and they do want to win just a little more" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/15). In Philadelphia, Paul Hagen writes the All-Stars "seem to be looking at the game as more than just a way to cash in an awards bonus. That's good. The fans seem to be taking the proceedings a lot more seriously as well. That's not." What is "supposed to be a celebration of the best of the best had a decidedly nasty streak running through it," as several All-Stars last night, notably Red Sox P Jonathan Papelbon, were "jeered and heckled" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/16).

Over One Million Fans Turn Out For MLB All-Star Parade

HOT TICKET: Also in N.Y., Joshua Robinson notes several scalpers outside Yankee Stadium said that "tickets were about as scarce as they are for World Series games." MLB said that about one-third of Yankee Stadium's 57,545 seats were allocated to team execs and event sponsors. The game was the "third-best-selling event" in StubHub's history, in terms of the volume of money exchanged, behind February's Giants-Patriots Super Bowl XLII and January's LSU-Ohio State BCS Championship (N.Y. TIMES, 7/16).

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