Commissioner Bud Selig insisted that last night’s All-Star Game was going to be played until a winner was determined regardless of how long it would take – and regardless of who was on the mound when it would finally end.
“It all worked out,” Selig said on the field after the AL had finally defeated the NL 4-3 in 15 innings. “There is no sense in going through a lot of ‘what ifs.’ Everyone understood we were playing this game until the conclusion.”
The game concluded at 1:37 a.m. It concluded with the last pitchers available to both sides in the game. Philadelphia’s Brad Lidge was working for the NL. Technically, the NL still had Tim Lincecum (flu-like symptoms) and Kerry Wood (blister), but because of their ailments they were judged unable to work in the 79th All-Star Game.
Tampa’s Scott Kazmir, who threw 104 pitches on Sunday, was not supposed to pitch in this game. But the AL simply ran out of alternatives, so he was put in and ended up the winner after one inning of work. He said he could have thrown at least one more.
But Selig was definitely facing a disaster. He could have forced a conclusion to the game. However, it would have come by jeopardizing the health of a one-inning closer (Lidge) from a contender or the ace (Kazmir) of another contender.
“I don’t mind telling you I was doing a lot of pacing,” Selig said.
That is because the alternative to pushing pitchers – or putting position players in to pitch (Tampa’s Evan Longoria had already volunteered) – was to have the game end in a tie. And the embarrassment of having the pitchers run out and the 2002 All-Star Game in Selig’s hometown of Milwaukee end in a tie is what motivated the commissioner to instigate rules to guarantee that it would not happen again.
The rosters were expanded to 32 players to make more pitchers, in particular, available. But also to elevate the passion to play in and win the game – and to juice TV ratings – it was determined that home field in the World Series would go to the league that won the All-Star Game.
Therefore, a tie had to be avoided no matter what in Selig’s mind – because then you would have to come up with a different way on the fly to determine World Series home field.
Selig said the message that the game would be played to conclusion was transmitted to the managers – Colorado’s Clint Hurdle and Boston’s Terry Francona – both before and during the All-Star Game.