C'mon fellas. it was the right decision to make in my opinion. I think it is important for every player to get in the game. Remember when Darryl Kile made his two All-Star apearrances with the Astros? Well, he did not make it into the game, either time. That bothered me. (Fortunatley, he played in the All-star game when he was selected in 2000 I believe.) If there is anything to be learned here, it is to increase the rosters and then play the players who had the best stats. And then sit the reserve players whose numbers are not that high (and have them prepared to play possible extra innings) I felt sorry for Bud Selig tonight, especially when he got booed in his home yard. The all-Star Game is of minimal importance compared to a possible strike and the steroids issue. That being said, the All-star debate is a hot topic At least Selig was man enough to take the position of commissioner. In fact, its good that something like this happened, because you know, Selig is human like everyone else. He saw with his own eyes, in his own yard, that changes need to be made to the All-Star game. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way in order to make change. Bud Selig's came tonight. Selig has somehwhat of a bad rap based on other actions he has dealt with, but this in no way should be a negative toward Selig.
well said. The RIGHT decision was made. To risk injury to a player that the managers should not ultimately be responsible for would be wreckless. Unless you want to trot out position players as relief pitchers a la canseco, stop the game. Not the popular decision by any means, but the CORRECT decision.
By playing in the game, they are risking injury. Starting pitchers shouldn't be hurt by going 3 or 4 innings anyway, and it still doesn't hide the fact that the pitching rosters should be better managed in case something like this does happen. The game is for the fans. The managers should've seen the possibility of an extra-inning game and held back more than 1 player in case it did go past 9, 10, or even 11 innings. At the least, there should've been a 12th inning. Selig is simply a horrible commish and even ducked out on a FOX interview.
Exactly mfclark...if pitchers can't pitch more than 2 innings without getting hurt, then that's their problem. I could understand if it was the 15th inning or something, but there's no way they should've canceled it in the 11th.
It has less to do with the starters not being able to pitch more than 2 innings and more to do with getting everyone in the game... Joe Morgan hit the nail on the head when he said that the starters should pitch 5 innings or so...and the guys who dont get in the game should just be honored to be there. That said, the right decision was made...you cant risk injury to a guy in an exhibition game.
yet another damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. every year managers take flak for not getting the players into the All Star Game...last night, they were heralding the brilliance of Torre being able to get every position player in by the 8th. then it turned on him when the game was tied going into extra innings. ultimately, who cares? it's just an all star game....it's all the pregame pomp and circumstance that i love, anyway!
I'm not a baseball fan and I don't care that they cancelled the game, but these guys are supposed to be the top athletes in the baseball world. If they can't pitch more than 2 innings then they might as well not even have the all star game. I find this "oh well if they pitch 3 or 4 innings they will get hurt" stuff to be a giant steaming pile of crap. Could someone explain to me how pitching another inning or two is going to put the players at risk? I guess I just dont understand why major league pitchers have to wait so long in between games when i see kids at my high school pitch 3 games in a weekend during a tournament and play just fine.
It's also the way they handled it. Let's take 10 minutes between half innings in the 11th, then let's announce it while the NL is batting to make a complete mockery of the game, and top it all off by running away from the Fox reporter after deciding to not give an MVP award.
The issue is not that these players can or cannot pitch a few innings on a given night. Of course they can. The issue is returning spent pitchers to their ballclubs. What if that was a Boston pitcher in the game at that point, and Torre just kept him out there for a five or six-inning stint? That doesn't look too good, does it? Rival manager effectively taking a start away from your team's All-Star pitcher?
I agree that them not giving an MVP award was ridiculous...especially after they decided that the new name of the All Star MVP Award was going to be called the Ted Williams Award...they should have had co-mvp's (one from each team ) at least
OK, then how is one more inning, or even two, make these pitchers spent? These are professional athletes. They may need to consult their team trainer if pitching one or two more innings would render them useless. Maybe the fans should start leaving baseball games in the 7th inning because by the time they get home, it'll be bedtime...wouldn't want to be spent for the next day of work.
RM95-you're right...it probably wouldn;t make them "spent"...but yesterday's game was called because THERE WERE NO PITCHERS LEFT...Padilla apparently felt stiff during pregame warmups and wasnt even going to pitch....therefore, even if Garcia could have gone 3 more innings, the NL had no more pitchers...and they certainly arent going to take a chance of a position player throwing out his arm like Canseco did...
Ever talked to a pitcher? Know what happens after throwing, say 60 pitches? It's unfair for a team to send a pitcher to the game only to come back not ready to pitch for a couple of days. Yeah! Maybe!
What a fitting end to what may be the final All-Star game. Granted there was nothing Bud could do (like others said there was no right decision), but like any business you must have a contingency plan. Baseball should have been prepared to either: 1. Let one of the previous pitchers come back into the game for each team 2. Decided it with a home run derby (Schilling mentioned this but I think it's a great idea, this guy should be the commissioner) 3. Let each and every baseball fan in America get a free shot at Bud Selig Having an owner as the commissioner is a joke. I love the sport of baseball but until they get a strong commis, who will stand up to both sides, it is a doomed sport.
Once upon a time, as hard as this is to believe, but players actually cared about winning the All-Star game. Hell, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio played the entire 1941 all-star game. This attitude or feeling of "let's get every player in the game, so their feelings won't get hurt" is the attitude of a freaking pu**y. This ain't f*cking little league, guys. I'm sure that most of these players have an incentive clause in their contract for just making the game, probably of $50,000. It's also funny how over 40 years ago, when there was like 20 teams in each league, there were 30 players on each league's All-Star team. Now, ten teams have been added to MLB and there is still only 30 players on each team?? Someone desperately needs to do something to save this grand old game, and Bud Seelig is definitely not that someone.
They should change a couple of things... 1) The coach should be decided by the team with the best record at a certain point in the season (like what the NBA does) Why? The answer is in my next point... 2) The winning league should be awarded home field advantage in the World Series...this would make the managers actually manage the teams and make any player on a contending team (granted there arent many contenders these days) care about the game's outcome.....and being that the managers would be from the teams who currently own the best record intheor respective leagues, each manager would have a definite interest in gaining home field advantage in the World Series 3) Fans should not determine starters...period. Say all you want about it being a game for the fans...but do you really think that any of the starters selected by the fans would be left off the team entirely if the coaches picked them? I think not.
blah. do you really think it's fair to the atlanta braves, for example, to have vincent padilla figuring prominently in whether or not they get home field advantage in the WS? this would also make an even bigger mockery of the selection process. you thought managers were playing favorites, before? with something like HFA on the line, you better believe the manager's gonna favor his guys, especially over more deserving guys who may not figure into the pennant race. no way; bad idea.
