There’s Tying in Baseball

Commissioner Bud Selig hoped the 73rd All-Star game at Miller Park would distract baseball fans frustrated by talk of steroids and strikes.

The showcase at his family’s new ballpark instead became another black eye for the reeling sport he leads, as the National and American leagues played to a bizarre 7-7, 11-inning tie Tuesday night, angering what remained of a sellout crowd of 41,871.

Selig instructed umpires to end the 3-hour, 29-minute game in a tie after the NL failed to score in the bottom of the 11th, because the 60 players on the rosters, including 19 pitchers, had been used.

Play was delayed for about five minutes after the AL batted in the inning while umpires huddled with Selig at his seat. Fans booed when word emerged on TV that the game would end in a tie if the NL failed to score.

Seattle Mariner right-hander Freddy Garcia struck out San Francisco Giant catcher Benito Santiago to end the game, stranding Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins at second after a one-out single and triggering chants of “Let them play, let them play,” popularized in one of the “Bad News Bears” movies.

Umpires ran off the field, no most valuable player was chosen, and fans threw trash in the outfield in an ugly scene.

But Selig had already made up his mind, continuing the public-relations nightmare he has experienced since taking the helm of the game.

“This is not the way I wanted it to end, and I’m very saddened by it,” a somber Selig said. “But this was one of those legitimate situations where they legitimately ran out of players. I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the fans. Obviously, there was a lot of unhappiness, which is understood by all of us. But in the middle of the [11th], both [AL Manager] Joe Torre and [NL Manager] Bob Brenly came to me and said they were out of players and were out of pitchers. They had used everybody because they wanted to get everybody in the game.

“It has always been the theory you use everybody. Obviously, in your wildest dreams, you would not have conceived that this game would have ended in a tie ... I really had no choice.”

Torre and Brenly agreed.

“I feel bad for Bud, especially being here, but the fact of the matter is that Bob and I talked about this,” Torre said. “To have players come to an All-Star game, you want to get ‘em in the game. The downside is that you get ‘em all in, and then it’s the ninth inning, 10th inning and 11th inning, you can’t have it both ways.

“People want to see all the stars, but you have to understand that something like this can happen. The last thing I want to do is get a pitcher hurt. I can’t send Freddy Garcia back to [Seattle Manager] Lou Piniella saying he can’t pitch. We all regret what happened, but there was nothing we could do.”

Brenly, guiding the NL for the first time, said Selig was in a tough spot.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” the Arizona Diamondback manager said. “I think it’s highly improper to try to place blame on anybody for this thing. It happened. Joe and I did the best we could to get everybody in there, so they could showcase their All-Star talents. We did that. Unfortunately, the game got tied up.”

The ending ruined an entertaining game.

Giant left fielder Barry Bonds did what he does in the NL’s three-run third, hitting a line drive off a rotating billboard on the facade of the second deck. The 385-foot liner against Toronto Blue Jay right-hander Roy Halladay increased the NL lead to 4-0.

Trailing, 5-2, in the seventh, the AL raced back behind Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko in a four-run inning. The former Dodger had a two-run double, matching an All-Star record with his second double, against Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim, capping the scoring and giving the AL a 6-5 lead.

Arizona catcher Damian Miller also had two doubles. Seven players have hit at least that many, with Bonds last accomplishing the feat on July 13, 1999.

The NL took the lead again, 7-6, in the seventh on a two-run single by outfielder Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros, continuing the back-and-forth action. Omar Vizquel, the Cleveland Indians’ smooth-fielding shortstop, pulled the AL even, 7-7, in the eighth on a one-out, run-scoring triple against San Francisco Giant closer Robb Nen.

With the help of Bonds, Minnesota Twin center fielder Torii Hunter provided the game’s first highlight and lighthearted moment in the first.

Hunter, emerging as one of the game’s best all-around players, robbed Bonds of a solo shot with a leaping catch at the wall in right-center after a lengthy sprint.

“I really, for a moment, I thought it was Michael Jordan. My God,” Chicago Cub right fielder Sammy Sosa said. “You know, that kid impresses everybody like a superman right there, comes out from nowhere and jumps like that and got the ball.”

Bonds, who smiled when Hunter came down with the ball, hugged Hunter and lifted him in the air as they crossed paths behind second base. AL and Boston Red Sox starter Derek Lowe was impressed and appreciative.

“I’ve [already] seen it so many times on TV. It was amazing,” said Lowe, who gave up two hits and a run in two innings. “I’ve never pitched here before, so I had no idea where that was going to go, how far, if it was going in the park, out of the park, and he makes a fantastic play.”

“I think everybody was speechless,” said Arizona Diamondback right-hander Curt Schilling, who started for the NL and gave up a single in two innings. “It’s always awesome in an All-Star game to see an All-Star do what got him there. Those are the moments that people will never forget.”

The ending certainly won’t be forgotten. Players were not surprised by the fans’ reaction.

“It was a rough reception,” said Dodger right fielder Shawn Green, who singled in three at-bats. “But I didn’t really expect the fans to start cheering when they said it would be over.”

The situation renewed the debate about expanding the 30-man rosters. “We have to evaluate that in the future,” Selig said. “Quite frankly, maybe we have to reevaluate the usage of players as well.”