I bet

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Posted By: David 

the guy in Las Vegas who picked 'tie' for the All-Star game cleaned up.

Now, TBob, don't you feel just a teeny weeny bit bad for Selig? You can't be that cold hearted.

I'm satisfied, because the Mariner's Freddy Garcia pitched the last six outs to earn the tie. His career All-Star record is now 0.5 - 0.5

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Posted By: MW

David -

Actually, Garcia's record would have to be 0-0-1. In other words, if he was the "pitcher of decision" in a tie game next year, the two .5's from each game would add up to a victory. I wonder how the statisticians will record it. After all, a "tie" is better than a loss or "no-decision", isn't it?

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Posted By: David

Michael, I knew what I was saying was probably wrong, and was just making a joke. I figured that since a baseball game isn't techinically supposed to end in a tie, I could make up whatever I wanted.

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Posted By: MW

I know you were only joking, but I think you bring up a very important point -- how to count "officially" ended baseball games as ties and how W-L records are affected (if at all). For instance, is a record of 0-0-1 better than 0-0-0??? I know it's not hockey, but....

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Posted By: John(z28jd)

There has been official games during the season that ended in ties,pitchers get no records(win/loss-wise) but all stats are added into the regular season totals as an official game.

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Posted By: David

Okay, I rephrase:

I am happy to know that Freddy Garcia pitched the last innings to earn the no-decission. It's good to know that my hometown player walked off the mound knowing that "well, at least I didn't lose."

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Posted By: Brueso

...is Bud Selig.

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Posted By: TBob

First let me say you have to feel a twinge of sympathy for someone as clueless as Selig having this happen to him in Milwaukee, his home city and whose hometwon Brewers are owned by his daughter (NAH, NO CONFLICT THERE!!!!!!)
That being said, Selig relied on Torre and Brenly to provide reasons and excuses to justify the horrible decision. I love baseball but major league baseball is getting exactly what it deserves. The greedy owners and players have no idea how much THE GAME means to the fans and continue to let the ineffectual and incompetent Bud Selig fiddle while Rome burns. A strike is on the way. The owners believe a work stoppage would be a good thing and the players could care less about the fans and believe they need to be excluded from steroid testing and that they can make as much as they want, even if it bankrupts the game (no cap). You can't have it both ways-either we have a parity driven league similar to the NFL with salary caps or we apply the good old American way and let the ones with the most money buy the best players.
I hope that every time the Twins win they peel off a small part of a cover on a naked Bud Selig blow up photo just like in Major League the movie.
I've got your contraction....
The bottom line from last night is that all those frigging relief pitchers don't need to be on the roster. 7 in the AL?????? I thought it was so ironic that one of the honorees last night was Jack Morris who would have pitched his arm off and gone 6 or 7 innings to win the game, ditto Warren Spahn. You don't want to ruin a pitcher but my God Every Day Eddie goes 2/3 of an inning, Zito throws 6 pitches??? Now Selig proposes adding an extra 4 or 5 pitchers to each roster so this won't happen again. Fine. 5 more relief pitchers who will only go 1/3 or 2/3 of an inning. Let's home the game doesn't go the 13th or 14th.
How sweet for all Twins fans to hear the boos raining down on the hopelessly incompetent one in his own stadium last night. Contract this...

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Posted By: TBob

I don't know how it is in other parts of the country, but high school and American Legion baseball is suffering. Down South high school football coaches are now requiring attendance during the summer at weightlifting sessions and skull sessions for all players who hope to play in the Fall. Players must make 27 of the 28 meetings or not play. High school basketball coaches are pushing their players to play summer AAU basketball. Now in the South we have Spring practices for the football team. More and more the better athletes are having to choose between Baseball and football or basketball and baseball is coming in a distant third. Is it any wonder why you see fewer and fewer Black baseball players and more and more foreign baseball players?

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Posted By: scott (runscott)

The fans vote for the team because the All-Star game is "for the fans". Well, we saw last night how much it was for the fans.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

pitched on Sunday, and Torre first said he wouldn't take him at ALL, and then modified it to "I'm going to use him very little."

I know Pedro declined; did R. Johnson as well? We COULD have had two more pitchers...or were all allowable pitching spots filled anyway? Probably.

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Posted By: nolemmings (Todd)

An unbelievably lame excuse of a commisssioner uses an unbelievably lame excuse for calling the game. The health of the pitchers? GARCIA AND PADILLA WERE PITCHING ON 4 FULL DAYS' REST! They had not pitched since last Thursday. Their bodies are trained to throw 6 innings/100-120 pitches every 5 days. And they couldn't be asked to go a third inning? What $#%#%#$%#*$# is that?
Bud Selig will be remembered as the biggest toady and buffoon to ever have (dis)graced the Commissioner's office, and yesterday was an absolutely fitting and proper way for the whole country to observe how the emperor has no clothes. If Selig had a shred of integrity, he would contract himself from MLB.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

if it wasn't the health of the players, what WAS his motive? I personally have no idea who would've won...

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Posted By: scott (runscott)

he's trying to be buddies with both the players, who don't want to do anything more than show their faces for the games, the managers who don't want their babies' arms to get too tiwerd, and the (other owners) who want their investments back at work safely after the game. But then again, it could be his own personal genuine concern for poor Mr. Padilla - after all, 2 innings is a lot.

--------------------------------------------
historically significant fact
Ed Reulbach once threw both ends of a double-header, winning both, and pitching the entire games

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Posted By: jay behrens

The thing that hurt baseball moe than anything was the collusion ruling that forced owners to pay free agents they 'might' have gotten if the owners had not tried to show some fiscal sanity and hold down salaries. We can thank our wonderful court system for the current mess more than anyone else. I doubt seriously that salaries would be anywhere near what they are now if the owners had won the case instead of the palyers. Rich clubs and poor clubs would still be a problem, but this ruling just made it that much worse.

Jay

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Posted By: TBob

The owners put arbitrators in place thinking they would be lackeys who would goose step to their tune. Surprise, surprise, they didn't. The owners had a chance to avoid this whole mess by giving in to the players on a few piddly requests but decided to be reminiscent of the owners of the 20's and 30's and not bend an inch. The result was arbitration, spiralling contracts and free agency. Most of the players could care less about anything but their pocketbooks but it was the owners who refused to bend and thus the whole game has broken.
By agreeing to arbitration, the players and owners circumvented the court process.

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Posted By: Jeff Obermeyer

Well, I guess I'll have to take the unpopular side of the debate here. Yes, it's true that Garcia was pitching on four days rest and could have gone longer... but let me ask you this - What is Garcia's job? His job is to win games for the Mariners, and if he goes six innings in the all-star game, he'll likely miss a start. One missed start by Garcia could mean one win for the M's... which could mean the difference between making the playoffs or playing golf in October.

Is Selig a moron? Definately. However, the AS game is simply an exhibition - I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I watched the game last year for one reason - it was in my home town (Seattle) and there were seven Mariners on the team. Even with that being the case I only watched three or four innings. Why? Because it's a meaningless game - it has no impact on stats or standings.


Was the situation handled properly? Probably not. However, I'm all for having a 9 or 10 inning limit on the game. The last thing anyone ever wants to see is someone injured during some type of all-star game (regardless of the sport).

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Posted By: Harry

They should not have used all of their pitchers so early. So what if one of them does not get in? They are not obligated to play in the game.

Torre and Brenly dug themselves holes and they should have had to get themselves out.

There were options- continue the game, re-use position players as pitchers, hell- flip a coin. The game should not have ended in a tie. This is not hockey or soccer.

Just my feelings.

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Posted By: Marty

I stopped watching All-Star games years ago. There is a big deal made in the media about something that many of the players only care about because of their contract bonuses. Barry Bonds made a comment earlier this year about a regular season game that he was not paid to play extra innings. The other team sports play all of the players, but a player may return after coming out. This could be a change.

On a different topic, inter-league play. I think that they should play visiting team rules about the DH. This would give fans the opportunity to experience not only the other leagues teams, but also their stratigies.

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Posted By: Stephen Mitchell

The first All-Star Game (1933) featured 18 pitchers and players per side at a time when 8 teams comprised a league. Pitchers usually went the distance (9 or more innings) and relievers were rarely specialists. And, if memory serves, it wasn't the goal of either Mack or McGraw (or their early successors) to fit everyone into the game.

I propose, simply, that the rosters be expanded to at least 35 players and pitchers per league; that the starters at all positions be used well into the game; and in '03 that managers Pinella and Brenly be unincumbered by having to showcase every star.

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Posted By: Marc S.

a few years ago. It simply isn't fun to watch anymore.

My comments:

1) All-star games from ten to twenty years ago never featured every player on the roster. It was a bad move by baseball, in general, to have everyone play in the game. It was not long ago that players were simply honored to be elected -- without having to play. Pitchers especially understood this.

2) Okay -- I don't disagree that there could be some sort of inning limit on the game. But if there is, there should be some process, however hokey, to decide the winner. Whether it be a home-run derby, a base-running competition, or something else, what could it hurt? Ties are for hockey -- and never belong in baseball.

3) Even if the game was a tie, there should have been an MVP. But for the tie, it seemed like it was an exciting game. Whether you give it to Bonds, Hunter, or someone, it is simply wrong to rename the award after Ted Williams and then not award it.

I'm just afraid that this is a harbinger of bad things to come in baseball over the next few months.

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Posted By: W.M.

Your right back then the goal was to win the game. But now no manager wants to stand up to any of these millinare babies and not play them even if it means losing. Sadly now days the game is a exhibition but tell that to Ray Fosse and Pete Rose back in the days of hard fought All Star games. Sad to see Selig and his pitch count puppets (Torre and Brenly) ruin what looked like a good game.