The tie in the recent All Star Game in Milwaukee was part of destiny, It had to happen. It was not ‘Miller time’ but

Bud time. It perfectly reflects todays

situation in baseball.

By Amaury Pi-GonzálezJust days after Ted Williams left us to go to play with the Heaven Hall of Famers the

All Star Game in Milwaukee ended

in a 7-7 tie in 11 innings. Was this a message from Teddy Ballgame ?As he was

reaching the gates of heaven like a

“last minute”warning to both sides,

management and labor in today’s very

messed up situation in Major League

Baseball.

What ever happened to playing the best

players for a while and then using

the rest of the players? Are the egoes

so huge today that everybody that

makes it to the All Star Game has to

play ? I can see it in the next

players agreement with owners,

a clause that reads: “Every player

selected to the All Star game must

play at least 1/3 of an inning”.

Granted, it is an exhibition, but tell that

to those that payed $175 for a seat at

Miller Park. How can it end in a tie ?

The other tie in an All Star Game history

was at Fenway Park, Boston in 1961

after nine innings, because of heavy

rains. At least that was an Act of God.

But is Bud Selig God all-of-a-sudden?

This All Star Game is a microcosm of

all that is wrong with baseball today.

Some players who are selected do not

want to go, they prefer to spent the 4

day break with their families, by the

swimming pool, “hanging out”.

Others like Pedro Martínez didn’t wanted

to go because he is still not 100% and

wants to help the Red Sox in the second

half (they are in the thick of the race), that

is very understandable and reasonable.

Some fans threw bottles of beer at

the field in Miller Park right after Selig’s

decision was made to all by the P.A.

announcer. Granted, some of those fans

were drunk and they would protest anything

at that point.

Solution ? Mine might not be perfect, but,

I think the All Star Game should go back

to when It was a game of pride to “defend

your own league” for the pride of the league

you play for. And the best players will play

the bulk of the game. Joe Torre didn’t have

to take five shortstops, that is uncalled

for, take the 3 best shortstops,period..You cannot plese everybody, even If they

were two All Star Games, some very good

players would be left out.

Managers are pressured to play everybody

and they do. So, this was bound to happen.

The MLB All Star Game is probably the

best of all All Stars(all sports) but this

7-7 tie demoralized the sport and made

it look weak in the eyes of all purist.

But those are the times we are living in.

Maybe it was ironic that this All Star Game

resulted in a 7-7 tie, when owners and

union representatives are also deadlock

and a looming strike is right in front of us.

Steroids,strike,what to do with Ted Williams

body,the 7-7 All Star tie, were the hotter topics around the country in the Sportstalk

shows not Tejada’s hit or Bonds homerun

or Tori Hunter’s catch of what was another Bonds bomb.

Peter Magowan, the San Francisco Giants

President is the only baseball executive

that doesn’t expects a strike. Peter is an

optimist and so is this reporter, but no

strike will be (in my opinion) a much

bigger surprise than the 7-7 All Star tie.

Magowan also said that the Giants (even

with a strike)could pay the $20 million

debt this year on Pac Bell Park.

The Diamondbacks figure to loose between

$40-$50 million this year. Tampa Bay,

Detroit are making payroll “barely”. And

Detroit has a beautiful downtown park..

And now, back to the ballgame..

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Amaury Pi-González is on his eight season as Spanish Radio Play by Play Announcer

for the San Francisco Giants on KZSF 1370 AM “La Caliente”. Previously for 17 seasons Play by Play for the Oakland A’S on radio

and Spanish TV. During the offseason,

Amaury can be heard nationwide on

the LBC Network covering Playoffs and

World Series as well as for Fox Sports.

His columns are also featured on:

ww.latinobaseball.com