The Never-Ending Story (that was the All-Star game)

I went to sleep at 2 a.m. because I watched the longest baseball game ever. By the 11^th inning, the novelty of the All-Star game being played in the last year in the House that Ruth built kind of dissipated. However, a few storylines kept me engaged, thus the reason why I stayed up and watched until the 15th inning … in no particular order:

– I wanted to see how many errors Dan Uggla could accumulate in an All-Star game. He ended up with three, but was very close to four.

– I wanted to see how many times a Major Leaguer can come up to bat with a man on third and less than two outs and still fail to drive in a run.

– I wanted to see what Terry Francona would do after Kazmir (his last pitcher) could no longer throw. Apparently, JD Drew would have been the next-in-line to pitch. Now that would have been worth watching.

– I wanted to see how much irrational banter Tim McCarver and Joe Buck could have as the clock neared morning.

In any case, it was an enjoyable All-Star game, although I’m feeling the pain of its long duration. Here were the highlights of the game worth mentioning:

– Pujols had two nice hits, but got a taste of the Ichiro cannon arm

– Mariano looked very much the invincible closer he has been for a decade

– Russell Martin made a few unbelievable plays at home plate

– JD Drew lived up to his potential … finally

Again, A-Rod disappointed in the limelight, and although the game was riveting, it was kind of anti-climactic to see the last 7 innings played by names that aren’t a household name. As much as I like the play of Nate McClouth, Ryan Ludwick and Carlos Quentin, they just didn’t raise my blood temperature at one in the morning. Oh well, at least it was a game that everyone played to win.