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All-Star letdown Fans disappointed by lack of star power
Posted: Wednesday July 12, 2000 01:01 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Five hundred dollars for this? That's what the Holcomb family of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., was wondering as they milled around the plaza at Turner Field at Tuesday's All-Star Game. They had plunked down $500 for four seats scattered all over the stadium. And as they went over the list of players who backed out of the game because of injuries, they said they felt cheated. The only mention of Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken and Mike Piazza was a quick rundown of injured players announced over the public-address system after the national anthem. "It's really disappointing that the star players aren't here," Roger Holcomb said, gesturing to his 7-year-old son, Drew. "He can't see McGwire, Griffey, the players he knows. He doesn't know Ivan Rodriguez, you know?" A record eight players who were selected as All-Stars missed the game. Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez all sat out. Holcomb said he understood that injuries are a part of the game. But he wondered why Griffey, who finished second to Sammy Sosa in the Home Run Derby exhibition Monday night, couldn't muster the strength to play a few innings. "Not to say any of these players aren't injured," Holcomb said. "But if he can hit in the Home Run Derby, he can hit in the All-Star Game." Braves fan Sandra Miller of Marietta, Ga., said she was pulling for the National League, which lost to the AL 6-3. But she said strong performances by Braves on the NL team made the game worthwhile. "I've been here all three days -- the Futures game, the Home Run Derby and now this," she said. "That Chipper Jones home run was the best." Still, fans in the crowd of 51,323 filing out of Turner Field said the game was missing considerable star power because of the injuries. James Ward, 17, of Chicago, was upset that McGwire didn't show. "At least Barry Bonds showed up, and his thumb was hurting," Ward said. "I think it was just because he wanted a vacation." Allen Lindbergh and his 9-year-old son, Will, drove from Anniston, Ala., with four family members to see the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game -- at $900 a person. The tickets were a gift, but Lindbergh said that didn't make the letdown any easier. "They should at least sign autographs during the game if they're hurt," Lindbergh said. "Don't they make enough money that they could give us some autographs?" And power hitters weren't the only ones missing. Red Sox fan Will Bacic, 15, made the trip from Norfolk, Mass. His team's signature player, Pedro Martinez, was the American League's presumed starter until he was lifted a week before the All-Star Game. "I'm disappointed about Pedro not pitching," he said as he and six friends piled out of a limousine that one of their mothers had rented for them. "But I guess you've got to give the other guys a chance." One of the other guys was David Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays, the AL starter. And that was fine with Scott Mackenzie of the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, who wore a Blue Jays cap to the park. He pointed out that McGwire's absence allowed Atlanta's Andres Galarraga, who missed all of last season with lymphoma, to start at first base. And when catcher Piazza of the Mets was hit by a Roger Clemens pitch in New York, it cleared the way for Jason Kendall of the Pittsburgh Pirates, forced by injury to sit out most of 1999, to start behind the plate. Galarraga "deserves it with what he's done," Mackenzie said. "It's fun in a way, and it's great for those guys." But he said this All-Star Game, which has come to be called the "All-Scar Game," was something of a letdown. "It's a shame," he said, "but it's also a great story."
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