The 2002 All-Star Game will always be remembered for all of the wrong reasons. It started out as one of the most celebrated, but ended unexpectedly as one of the most disappointing. Baseball had fallen on hard times as alleged steroid abuse and an impending strike over revenue sharing threatened to distance even more fans from the game. Even worse, baseball had lost one of its greatest players the week before as The Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams died at the age of 83.
The opening ceremonies were spectacular as baseball highlighted thirty of its greatest moments and featured several of its greatest living participants. Never before had such an elite gathering of new and old talent been brought together on the same field at the same time. Legends of the game including Warren Spahn, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays shared the spotlight with future Hall of Famers like Cal Ripken, Jr. and Barry Bonds. The stage was set for a wonderful exhibition as baseball's best took the field.
The game itself had everything, great pitching, excellent fielding, powerful hitting and phenomenal response from the fans. However it finished amid a sea of boos in a 7-7 tie after eleven innings when both teams ran out of pitchers. American League manager Joe Torre and National League skipper Bob Brenly had used all nineteen hurlers in an effort to get everyone in the game. Their efforts to be accommodating would backfire and set a precedent for future changes. Even with all of the controversy, the 2002 Midsummer Classic offered some great moments.
With two outs in the first, Barry Bonds launched a long drive to deep right-center field. Torii Hunter glided into the gap, timed his leap and reached far over the fence (his elbow was well above the eight-foot wall) to pull the ball back into the park. Bonds, who had five-hundred ninety-four career home runs, and the fans could hardly believe that he'd been robbed of another shot. As Hunter came jogging off the field, Bonds playfully intercepted the Gold Glove winner in the middle of the field, hoisted the Twins star with two hands and put him over his shoulder.
Lance Berkman, leading the majors with twenty-nine home runs and eighty-one runs batted in, hit a two-out, two-run single off Kazuhiro Sasaki in the seventh inning that rallied the National League to a 7-6 lead. The Houston outfielder delivered after Byung-Hyun Kim blew a lead in the top half. But Omar Vizquel, making a rare appearance at second base because the American League had five shortstops on its roster, made it seven-all with a RBI triple in the eighth off Giants closer Robb Nen.
Then it happened. After two extra innings the game was called at a tie. Commissioner Bud Selig was left with little options and made the ultimate decision to call the game. It was the first tie in All-Star play since a game in 1961 was stopped by rain. Even worse, there was no Most Valuable Player picked. Bad timing, too, since the trophy was renamed to honor Ted Williams, the Hall of Famer who died July 5. While the sport's most memorable moments were shown earlier on the board, baseball also paused to remember St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile and Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck. Kile's No. 57 jersey hung in the National League dugout and Buck's widow was in attendance.
The end result left intact the American League's five-game winning streak. The National League led the overall series 40-31 and now had two ties. The game took three hours twenty-nine minutes. Five other All-Star games had lasted longer than eleven innings, the most recent being the National League's 2-0 win in thirteen innings in 1987. Commissioner Bud Selig stated that, "This will never happen again."
"Nobody wanted to play more than I did, but I have to balance the concerns and hopes of the fans against the welfare of the players and the game. And every so often you get caught in a really difficult and sensitive situation. This is why they have a commissioner, because somebody has to make those decisions." - Commissioner Bud Selig
2002 All-Star Game
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2002 All-Star Game Fast Facts | ||||||
Game Number | 73 | |||||
Date / Box Score | 07-09-2002 | |||||
Location | Miller Park | |||||
Attendance (Rank) | 41,871 | |||||
M.V.P. Award | No Award Issued To Any Player | |||||
National Anthem | Anastacia | |||||
1st Pitch | From | To | ||||
Warren Spahn | Bob Uecker | |||||
Hank Aaron | Jose Hernandez | |||||
Paul Molitor | Jorge Posada | |||||
Robin Yount | Richie Sexson | |||||
League Items | A.L. | N.L. | ||||
Starting Pitchers | Derek Lowe | Curt Schilling | ||||
Managers | Joe Torre | Bob Brenly | ||||
Coaches | Charlie Manuel | Frank Robinson | ||||
Mike Scioscia | Jim Tracy | |||||
Honorary Captains | Robin Yount | Ozzie Smith | ||||
2002 All-Star Game Fast Facts |
2002 All Star GameLine Score |
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2002 All-Star Game Capsule | ||||||||||||||
League | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
American | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
National | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
A.L. Pitcher(s) | N.L. Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||||
Derek Lowe Roy Halladay (3rd) Mark Buehrle (4th) Barry Zito (6th) Eddie Guardado (6th) Kazuhiro Sasaki (7th) Ugueth Urbina (8th) Mariano Rivera (9th) Freddy Garcia (10th) - |
Curt Schilling Mike Williams (3rd) Odalis Perez (4th) Eric Gagne (5th) Trevor Hoffman (6th) Mike Remlinger (7th) Byung-Hyun Kim (7th) Robb Nen (8th) John Smoltz (9th) Vicente Padilla (10th) |
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A.L. Home Runs | N.L. Home Runs | |||||||||||||
Alfonso Soriano (5th) | Barry Bonds (3rd) |
2002 All-Star GameAmerican League All-Star Squad |
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Lineup | Name | Team | Position | Notes |
Garret Anderson | Anaheim Angels | OF | ||
Tony Batista | Baltimore Orioles | 3B | ||
Mark Buehrle | Chicago White Sox | SP | ||
Johnny Damon | Boston Red Sox | OF | The 30th Man | |
Robert Fick | Detroit Tigers | OF | ||
Freddy Garcia | Seattle Mariners | SP | ||
NomarGarciaparra | Boston Red Sox | SS | ||
4. | Jason Giambi | New York Yankees | 1B | |
Eddie Guardado | Minnesota Twins | RP | ||
Roy Halladay | Toronto Blue Jays | SP | ||
2. | Shea Hillenbrand | Boston Red Sox | 3B | |
7. | Torii Hunter | Minnesota Twins | OF | |
Derek Jeter | New York Yankees | SS | ||
Paul Konerko | Chicago White Sox | 1B | ||
9. | Derek Lowe | Boston Red Sox | SP | Starting Pitcher |
Pedro Martinez | Boston Red Sox | SP | Replaced - Injury | |
A.J. Pierzynski | Minnesota Twins | C | ||
6. | Jorge Posada | New York Yankees | C | |
5. | Manny Ramirez | Boston Red Sox | OF | |
Mariano Rivera | New York Yankees | RP | ||
3. | Alex Rodriguez | Texas Rangers | SS | |
Kazuhiro Sasaki | Seattle Mariners | RP | ||
8. | Alfonso Soriano | New York Yankees | 2B | |
1. | Ichiro Suzuki | Seattle Mariners | OF | |
Mike Sweeney | Kansas City Royals | 1B | ||
Miguel Tejada | Oakland Athletics | SS | ||
Ugueth Urbina | Boston Red Sox | RP | ReplacedMartinez | |
Robin Ventura | New York Yankees | 3B | ||
Omar Vizquel | Cleveland Indians | SS | ||
Randy Winn | TampaBayDevilRays | OF | ||
Barry Zito | Oakland Athletics | SP | ||
BOLD = Fan's choice to start the game (Manager chooses pitcher). |
2002 All-Star GameNational League All-Star Squad |
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Lineup | Name | Team | Position | Notes |
Lance Berkman | Houston Astros | OF | ||
3. | Barry Bonds | San Francisco Giants | OF | |
Luis Castillo | Florida Marlins | 2B | ||
Adam Dunn | Cincinnati Reds | OF | ||
Eric Gagne | Los Angeles Dodgers | RP | ||
Tom Glavine | Atlanta Braves | SP | Replaced - Injury | |
Luis Gonzalez | Arizona Diamondbacks | OF | ||
Shawn Green | Los Angeles Dodgers | OF | ||
5. | VladimirGuerrero | Montreal Expos | OF | |
2. | Todd Helton | Colorado Rockies | 1B | |
Jose Hernandez | Milwaukee Brewers | SS | ||
Trevor Hoffman | San Diego Padres | RP | ||
Randy Johnson | Arizona Diamondbacks | SP | Replaced - Injury | |
Andruw Jones | Atlanta Braves | OF | The 30th Man | |
Byung-Hyun Kim | Arizona Diamondbacks | RP | ||
Mike Lowell | Florida Marlins | 3B | ||
Damian Miller | Arizona Diamondbacks | C | ||
Matt Morris | St. Louis Cardinals | SP | Replaced - Injury | |
Robb Nen | San Francisco Giants | RP | Replaced Morris | |
Vicente Padilla | Philadelphia Phillies | SP | Replaced Glavine | |
Odalis Perez | Los Angeles Dodgers | SP | ||
6. | Mike Piazza | New York Mets | C | |
Mike Remlinger | Atlanta Braves | RP | ReplacedJohnson | |
7. | Scott Rolen | Philadelphia Phillies | 3B | |
8. | Jimmy Rollins | Philadelphia Phillies | SS | |
Benito Santiago | San Francisco Giants | C | ||
9. | Curt Schilling | ArizonaDiamondbacks | SP | Starting Pitcher |
Richie Sexson | Milwaukee Brewers | 1B | ||
John Smoltz | Atlanta Braves | RP | ||
4. | Sammy Sosa | Chicago Cubs | OF | |
Junior Spivey | Arizona Diamondbacks | 2B | ||
1. | Jose Vidro | Montreal Expos | 2B | |
Mike Williams | Pittsburgh Pirates | RP | ||
BOLD = Fan's choice to start the game (Manager chooses pitcher).Audio Moment: Torii Hunter Catch |
Continental Airlines sponsored a new contest in 2002 called the 30th Man, where fans were solely responsible for selecting a final player they believed to be deserving of the All-Star status. In the American League the top five were Johnny Damon (692,989), Jim Thome (666,825), Eric Chavez (266,110), Magglio Ordonez (179,951) and Darin Erstad (122,458). In the National League the top five were Andruw Jones (559,752), Brian Giles (488,725), Larry Walker (297,174), Albert Pujols (267,196) and Ryan Klesko (138,824).
During the postgame interview Paul Konerko, who tied the All-Star Game record for doubles with two, said of his accomplishment, "Somehow I don't think this game will be remembered for that. Except maybe by me."
The 73rd Midsummer Classic was the first played in Miller Park, the second to end in a tie, the tenth to go into extra innings (nine of which were won by the National League making them 9-0-1 to date), and the first to use sixty players.