They should have walked Bonds every time he got to the plate, just to show Bud what “Making it count” would do to the entertainment factor of the game.
Zito is on the All Star roster - he was either elected by the players or selected by the manager, I’m not sure which - he’s just not available to pitch.
Huh. I thought the brouhaha was that Zito was taken off the roster and Clemens was inserted in his place. 
Damn. At least it was a good game for baseball.
Ripken was voted in by the fans, not picked by the Commish. And Gwynn didn’t take someone else’s spot and wasn’t eligible to play. Just an honorary spot. So you can see how the Clemens situation is very different.
I enjoyed the game this year. I think it was made better by the fewer substitutions.
The announcers mentioned that Billy Wagner threw righty as a kid, but broke his arm twice and switched sides. Now he throws over 100mph. That is nuts.
Jeez, Troy, it just had to be a Dodger (Gagne) who took home field from your Giants. Sorry, dude.
I’ve decided I like it when Dusty Baker manages a team in a big game. An Angel always seems to take home the MVP. 
I went to high school with a cousin of Billy Wagner. I heard about this through him. I met him once a couple of years ago too. Interesting guy.
And another thing; I think that the middle of a baseball game is the perfect place to put God Bless America sung by an 80’s (snicker) pop sensation. Gag me with a spoon.
Don’t make me come down there, kid! 
Gagne blew one in June at SF. Extra inning game, he gave up (I think) a walk-off HR to the Giants and proceeded to throw a cute widdle tamper tantrum in the dugout, much to the glee of myself and my barmates. So when the announcers were fawning over his no-blown-saves first half, I knew better. Whiny bastard proved me right. F*&kin’ Dodgers.
Woohoo. Now my Mariners will get home field advantage.
Sorry, forgot about Ripken being voted in. Like I said, the way this was handled was very bad, although it seems like it was more Billy Beane’s fault than anyone else’s. At the very least, he gave baseball a way to do something they wanted to but couldn’t. This all should’ve been worked out days or weeks ago in any case.
AMEN!
Seriously though…
I remember how out of their minds the state of Washington was when we went to the playoffs for the first time in 1995, I can’t even IMAGINE what this place would be like if we made it to the series. :eek:
I like the home-field bit…
If only it wasn’t to fix the car salesman’s blunder.
The bastard is killing baseball.
My thoughts on the game:
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What pitiful and shameless self promotion by Fox to open the All Star telecast with promos for their own second-rate movie, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
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The Ugly American is alive and well, once again Fox opts not to show the singing of O, Canada.
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Decent rendition and interesting arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. I just wish the singer had managed to find a top that fit for an appearance on network television.
As for the game itself:
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Great job by Mike Sciosia. By not flooding all the reserves in the game at once, he kept his options open to get good matchups at the end.
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Good for Garret Anderson. One of the game’s underappreciated players wins the HR title and the MVP.
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In the east, we don’t see the Mariners a lot, but Ichiro definitely wields a mean glove out there in right field. He makes the plays appear much easier than they are due to the great jumps he gets.
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Poor Fox, they couldn’t get one person to say they gave a rat’s rear about the home field advantage angle, despite many many attempts to do so.