All Star Story
07/11/2001
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
It had to be fixed. It just had to be. David Halberstam couldn't have written a better story. Kevin Costner couldn't have played the role more perfectly. Billy Crystal couldn't have produced a better script. For once, the MLB All Star game lived up to all the hype.
Heading into the break, there certainly was plenty of intrigue to harness your interest, but most years the game action is somewhat disappointing. At best.
But not this year.
No, the 2001 All Star game had it all: humor, acrobatics, suspense, long balls, strikeouts, sentiment, drama, broken bats, graciousness, controversy, comedy and plenty of diversity. The stories had loads of allure -- from Randy Johnson's homecoming to Tony Gwynn's and Cal Ripken's All Star curtain calls -- and the players carried their own star appeal. It truly was a game any fan would have enjoyed.
It all started with the player introductions. Of course, the eight Mariners on the AL squad received lengthy ovations from the hometown crowd, but it was the warm reception for former Seattle-ites Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez that stole the show. Sure, there were some boos thrown in for good measure when Unit and A-Rod were introduced, but those were soon drowned out by the sincere show of appreciation that flowed from the Safeco Field seats, proving the Seattle faithful finally had moved on, if only for a day or two. After all, this week wasn't about grudges, disrespect and past differences. It was about baseball, plain and simple, and for a brief moment that's all that mattered to the 45,000 Mariners fans in attendance.
Of course, when your team is comfortably sitting atop the AL West with a .724 winning percentage and a 19-game cushion over second-place Oakland, I guess letting go of a grudge or two would be a relatively easy chore.
Then the American League starters took the field, and A-Rod and skipper Joe Torre immediately shoved Cal Ripken into the spotlight he so deserved, forcing him to play an inning at shortstop. For as gracious as the Seattle fans were toward Rodriguez and Johnson, the all-world shortstop returned the favor, giving way to one of the game's authentic icons by reuniting Ripken one final time with the position he revolutionized -- not to mention popularized -- with his power bat, slick glove and 6-4 frame. It was a gesture fans will remember for years, watching someone as great as Rodriguez give way to his idol, in the process proving that maybe, just maybe, he doesn't care so much about that $252 million contract he signed this winter to overlook what this game is really all about.
As memorable as the moment itself was, though, Ripken's reaction was absolutely classic. Like he's done throughout his Hall of Fame career, the two-time MVP played the reluctant hero, at first refusing to switch positions with A-Rod, repeatedly saying, "I don't want to play shortstop." Only with constant prodding from Rodriguez, Torre and the fans did he slide over to short, and even then he downplayed the moment, telling Roger Clemens to strikeout the side so he wouldn't be tested. After the game, though, Cal admitted that when the inning ended without a play at short, he was a little disappointed. Guess after playing in a record 2,632 straight games and winning two Gold Gloves, old habits kinda die hard.
But the action wasn't over just yet, and neither was Ripken. Fast forward to the third inning. Ripken, facing Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park, takes the first pitch he sees over the leftfield wall, breaking a scoreless tie and adding just one more clipping to his gorged scrapbook.
But it wasn't just a home run. For a split second, Ripken didn't look like a 40-year-old third baseman hanging on for dear life against major league pitching. As he ran around the bases, head down, stadium roaring behind him, he at least slightly resembled the guy who hit .323 with 34 homers and 114 RBI in 1991, the same season he snared the league MVP along with his All Star game MVP trophy. With one swing of the bat, he reminded the fans both in the seats and in the dugouts that he is one of the game's all-time greats. That home run on this international stage proved one final time that, although we sometimes forget it, Cal Ripken Jr. was so much more than a guy who simply played in 2,632 straight games. For the past few years, remembering him as he once was has been a difficult task -- his last fully productive season came in 1997. But leave it to Ripken to bow out on such a glorious note, winning the game's MVP award in his final season.
So if Cal brought the grace to this year's All Star party, I guess Tommy Lasorda provided the disgrace, doing his impersonation of an elephant attempting a backwards somersault after taking a Vlad Guerrero broken bat to the belly. I know it wasn't elegant and he didn't exactly look too nimble on his... well, back. But as Lasorda has done throughout his several decades in the sport, he supplied humor and style in the same instant. And don't feel guilty about laughing first before you knew if he was okay. Trust me, you weren't the only one.
Just ask Don Zimmer.
It really was a great All Star game. You had Kirby Puckett roaming around the dugout as the honorary AL captain, adding just a little more class to the equation. Then there was Joe Torre's brother Frank, a few years removed from open-heart surgery, sitting in the AL dugout in complete Yankees garb as baseball's honorary guest... loving every last minute.
And of course, in a game that had representatives from eight different countries in uniform, how fitting was it to have Ichiro Suzuki, Japan's ultimate hero and maybe baseball's most dazzling star, get the first hit of the night? And to top it off, Kaz Sasaki, himself a Japanese legend, recorded the final three outs in front of his hometown Mariners fans to notch his first All Star save.
Even Mr. Purist, Bob Costas, had to take some pride in the game.
But every great script needs some conflict, and leave it to Bud Selig, the walking toupee model, to provide the controversy. While baseball gave Ripken a fantastic bon voyage party, Selig really missed the boat by not letting fellow retiree Tony Gwynn get an at bat. Gwynn, who was not elected to the original NL team but was later named an honorary All Star, said he didn't want a plate appearance. Instead, he said, he was just happy to be at the game.
Come on, Tony. You're on your way out -- no need to kiss Selig's ass. Guys like Gwynn and Ripken were built from the same mold, and as soon as you slap a uniform, hat and mitt on guys like that, they're ready to play. You can't tell me Gwynn, a 15-time All Star, wasn't itching to get out there and take some hacks. But rules are rules, I suppose, and Selig stuck to 'em, saying because Gwynn wasn't either elected by the fans or selected by the coach, he couldn't actually participate in the game.
Which makes me wonder why Bobby Valentine, the NL manager, didn't take Gwynn on as a reserve, much like Torre said he planned to do if Ripken wasn't elected by the fans. Valentine even said if he could, he would have sent Gwynn to the plate but his hands were tied. Sorry, Bobby, you missed your chance a couple weeks ago.
You could have chosen him over Cliff Floyd... . Umm, never mind.
Oh well, I guess it wasn't the perfect All Star game, but this 2001 edition probably is about as close to perfection as any Midsummer Classic can get. We had a hero in white... and orange, a villain in a hideous rug and plenty of raw fish -- all the necessary ingredients for a fantastic story.
Okay, so I'm not quite sure if the raw fish is needed, but it didn't hurt.
In the Bullz-Eye
The Boston Red Sox. With shortstop Nomar Garciaparra still several weeks away from his return from the DL, Carl Everett nursing a sore knee, catcher Jason Varitek out of commission with a fractured elbow, and Pedro Martinez's actual injury status still a mystery, the Red Sox, 1.5 games behind the Yankees in the East, could find themselves out of contention by the time the calendar flips to August.