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| Here's what sports writers are saying about baseball's All-Star Game ending in a 7-7 tie Tuesday night in Milwaukee |
Now, of course, they will go from 30 players on each team to maybe 33 or 34 or 35, and the respective managers will be faced with the nightmare task of squeezing them all into a nine-inning game or sending some home disappointed, even angry they weren't used and wondering why they were asked to attend. That, however, will be far better than what happened at Miller Park Tuesday night.
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Ross Newhan,
Los Angeles Times
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First 9/11, then Enron and Arthur Andersen, then the Roman Catholic Church, now baseball. Of all times to test the nation's tolerance quotient, this is surely the worst.
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Jay Mariotti,
Chicago Sun-Times
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It was not one of the more artful of these exhibitions. It was full of bonehead baserunning and blown saves. One of the game's quirkier traditions -- the Brewers' Sausage Race -- nearly resulted in the trampling of Baltimore's Tony Batista. The good news, such as it is, is that the players worked overtime and didn't ask for any more money.
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Tim Sullivan,
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Everyone in baseball is banging the drums these days, willing to risk the future of the game itself to stand up for their own selfish and already wealthy interests. But they wouldn't risk a sore arm to stand up for the resolution everyone deserved. Presented with a challenge, it never occurred to anyone to take extraordinary measures on behalf of the fans. Only for themselves.
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Dave Andriesen,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The game was called because both American League manager Joe Torre and National League manager Bob Brenly ran out of players in an attempt to get everyone in an 11-inning game. OK, that's an annoying gnat of a problem, but what bugs people is seeing baseball clobber it with a clumsy sledgehammer.
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Dave George,
Palm Beach Post
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If Selig, and baseball owners and players, cannot understand after this all-star catastrophe how close their sport is to the edge of a cliff, there is no helping them. You don't call off the all-star game just because it's after midnight or TV viewers have clicked off their sets. If you have to put (pitcher Vicente) Padilla at first base and let a fielder pitch, then so be it.
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Thomas Boswell,
The Washington Post
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Both managers had used all their players and this being 2002, it was too much to ask for the fellows to settle things on the field. … With one out in the bottom of the 11th, the public address announcer told the crowd the bad news. Folks who had forked over $175 for box seats learned that this actually was no different than a spring training game.
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Dan Shaughnessy,
The Boston Globe
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There was conversation early this season about the possibility of major league players boycotting the All-Star Game. The reason was to embarrass Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, but also the patriarch of the family that owns the Brewers. The players decided against this strategy. The game was played Tuesday night. And, it turned out to be more embarrassing for Selig and baseball and the Brewers than a players' boycott.
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Patrick Reusse,
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Baseball can't help itself. No matter what it does, it dumps on its fans. It's almost instinctive the way it does this, the way it sizes up situations and does whatever hurts the fans most. It does this like water finding its own course.
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Rick Morrissey,
Chicago Tribune
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Baseball was caught with its pants down. Someone, anyone, should have considered this possibility. Someone should have planned ahead. Hey guy, it's not such a longshot to see game go into the 12th inning. It happens all the time. In a way, it's a wonder this hasn't happened to them before. It's nice that Joe Torre and Bob Brenly wanted to use all their players, nice but nearsighted.
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Jon Heyman,
Newsday
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This was, for 11 innings, baseball at its finest, and then, suddenly, baseball at its worst. Considering the labor showdown that will beat us down in the days to come, maybe it was the most fitting conclusion.
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Larry Stone,
The Seattle Times
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The old saying is that a tie is like kissing your sister. Well, this time the sister -- Milwaukee fans -- slapped baseball and Selig across the face.
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Bob Elliott,
The Toronto Sun
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