The discussion was about the baseball All-Star Game, Arch Ward’s brainchild, and it wasn’t surprising that Cubs first baseman Mark Grace offered a significant observation: “It’s the only All-Star game where the players really try hard.”
Why so?
“In pro basketball they don’t play defense. Both teams can run up as many as 150 points. In hockey all of a sudden everybody is a gentleman. There is no checking. In football it’s the last game of the season. They’re in Hawaii, on vacation, and everybody’s trying not to get hurt.”
That said, we can zoom in on baseball’s midsummer classic, a Chicago invention that matches the best players in the National and American Leagues. Arch Ward, the late sports editor of the Tribune, was the founding father of the game, first played in 1933 as a sidepiece to the Chicago World’s Fair.
Appropriately, the inaugural was played in Comiskey Park. Better yet, Babe Ruth hit the first home run. The managers were Connie Mack for the AL, John McGraw for the NL.
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Then, as now, it was a popularity contest. Fans submitted their selections via a dozen major newspapers throughout the country. The votes were forwarded to the Tribune, which ran a daily tally. If some of the best players were on the short end, ballots were juggled accordingly, revealed the late Tribune baseball beat writer Richard Dozer. No one knew the difference. It was no harm, no foul.
In today’s computer society, everything is out in the open. The only problem is that fans more often than not vote for the established stars. The result is that many second-tier stars, who are not among the baseball’s so-called household names but are nonetheless in the midst of their best seasons, often are ignored.
Mickey Morandini, the Cubs’ second baseman, fell into this category. He should have been chosen as the backup for Houston’s Craig Biggio, but was left off the team. Because of the rule that each team must be represented, Milwaukee’s Fernando Vina was chosen.
“I’ve been as consistent as any second baseman except Biggio,” said Morandini, who after Saturday’s game is hitting .331, 63 points above his career average.
As could be expected, Morandini is disappointed. This should have been his year. But as he explained, there is an upside. He plans to spend his three days off at home in Valparaiso, Ind., with his family. “I’ll enjoy the vacation,” Morandini said. “It will be good to get away and relax.”
Pitcher Kerry Wood, the Cubs’ phenom, will also sit out. So will the Cardinals’ Brian Jordan, the NL’s leading hitter, and Derek Bell of Houston, second in the league in hits and among the leaders in runs batted in. This list could easily be expanded.
Morandini believes the best solution would be to increase the rosters from 30 to 35 players. More players would be accommodated. The cost would be minimal. “All of them don’t have to play,” Morandini said. “The thrill would be in being there.”
Because of expansion, the 1998 rosters were enlarged from 28 to 30. For many years before that only 25 players were chosen by each side.
Cubs General Manager Ed Lynch, after insisting he doesn’t want the voting procedure changed, says too many undeserving players are chosen.
“They are voted in essentially because of their reputation, what they accomplished last year or the year before. Ten pitchers are chosen by the manager, and the eight position players are there on the vote of the fans. This leaves only 12 slots open.”
Then Lynch added:
“I have the utmost respect for the guys who have to make the selections. Jimmy Leyland (the NL manager) and Mike Hargrove (of the AL) do as good a job as humanly possible. I wouldn’t want to have that assignment.”
Billy Williams, the Cubs’ bench coach who played in a half-dozen All-Star Games, says the only sensible solution is to have the players pick the teams, voting only on opponents. This was the procedure for several years, but was dropped in favor of fan participation.
Whatever, the All-Star Game is upon us. Enjoy it, and remember: Only in baseball do the players give 100 percent.