A Long Night of All-Stars

The All-Star Game started ridiculously late and ended horrifically behind schedule, but in between the American and National League stars provided us with a host of good memories. Exhibiting plenty of good defense and baserunning (particularly in the area of stolen bases), this year's Midsummer Classic proved to be one of the best in the last 25 years. There was also a plethora of controversy, from the broadcast booth to the issue of tied games for the All-Stars.

*As much emotion as the lavish pre-game ceremonies and a tight ebb-and-flow game created, the presence of Joe Buck continues to be a drawback. I can excuse the mispronunciation of Justin Duchscherer's name (it's a momentary lapse on a tough name), but Bucks' other indiscretions have become intolerable. During his pre-game PA announcements, Buck didn't just introduce the participants by name and team, but saw fit to provide parenthetical remarks for each player. ("Last night's hero, Josh Hamilton.") That kind of hoaky commentary just isn't done by the public address man. Besides, Buck shouldn't be doing the PA announcements in the first place. He's the play-by-play guy, not the in-stadium announcer. I know that Bob Sheppard has been ill, but Yankee Stadium backup Jim Hall should have been the choice to handle the intros. And then during the game, Buck repeatedly told us that Carlos Guillen was the last man on Terry Francona's bench when in fact Evan Longoria was still available. That was a huge mistake to make, especially with extra innings looming, along with the real possibility of running out of players.

*Man, Justin Morneau is slow. Reminiscent of players like Rich Gedman, Ed Herrmann, and Ernie Lombardi, Morneau barely managed to score the game-ending run despite a weak, fading, two-hop throw by Corey Hart. If Hart had even managed to reach home plate on one hop, Morneau would have been out, the inning would have ended, and Terry Francona would have had little choice but to send Scott Kazmir out for the 16^th inning.

*J.D. Drew will always be a pariah in Philadelphia, and to a lesser extent in Los Angeles, but his MVP performance on Tuesday night may be a sign that he is reaching his peak in his early thirties. Drew does everything so well--hitting for power, drawing walks, running the bases, and playing solid defense in right field--to the point that we have to start considering him an elite player. If he can just keep himself on the field for 150-plus games, he could win the real MVP Award within the next three years. With the Red Sox figuring to contend over that stretch, and the futures of both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz murky, Drew's importance to the franchise should only grow.

*I'm glad that MLB took a moment to honor the late Bobby Murcer, but it would have been far more appropriate to do so during the pre-game ceremonies. There are far more viewers than in the later innings, when East Coast fans turn off their TVs in droves. Murcer was a five-time All-Star himself, a franchise icon of the Yankees, and an extraordinarily popular player. He deserved an earlier spotlight on the broadcast.

*I felt a flashback toward the days of Mike Andrews when Dan Uggla made back-to-back errors, practically losing the game in the bottom of the 10^th inning. Thankfully, Charlie Finley wasn't lording over the National League team last night. If here were, he would have fired Uggla on the spot and asked Bud Selig to replace him with Brandon Phillips.

*Is there anything more nauseating than listening to broadcasters or reading Internet scribes as they agonize over pitch counts, who's available to pitch, and the possibility of running out of pitchers and declaring the All-Star Game a tie? (My goodness, 12 pitchers aren't enough to get through a single game?) These tedious issues would become a non-factor if MLB instituted a simple rule and managers adopted a basic pitching plan for the All-Star Game. If a pitcher isn't physically capable of pitching at least two innings in the game, his invitation should be withdrawn and his spot should be taken by someone who can. Managers should ask their starting pitchers to give them three innings (which was customary for many years in the All-Star Game), followed by a two-inning stint from the second pitcher. Then the manager can go single innings with the next four relievers. That way, managers would use only six pitchers in regulation and have five or six still available to pitch in extra innings. The possibility of a tie shouldn't even be discussed until the completion of, let's say, 18 innings--which is the equivalent of two nine-inning games. And please, no more mention of tiebreakers or shootouts. This isn't the North American Soccer League here.