Sacrifice fly gives relief to AL in 15th
NEW YORK -- Nothing like a disgraceful bit of provincialism to ruin a grand evening.
This should have been a glorious farewell to Yankee Stadium, to the ballpark Commissioner Bud Selig calls "the most famous sports cathedral in the world." This should have been a night to celebrate greats past and present, from New York and beyond, from Yogi Berra and Hank Aaron to Derek Jeter and Josh Hamilton.
But a New York newspaper and the Yankee Stadium fans conspired to tarnish an otherwise spectacular event, with Jonathan Papelbon of the rival Boston Red Sox enduring a ridiculous amount of abuse.
The provincialism was long forgotten by the time the longest game in All-Star history was decided, when Michael Young of the Texas Rangers delivered a sacrifice fly in the 15th inning to give the American League a 4-3 victory over the National League on Tuesday night.
Young became the second AL player to end an All-Star game by producing the walk-off run. Hall of Famer Ted Williams won the 1941 game with a home run. The game lasted four hours and 50 minutes, breaking the record by more than an hour. The 1967 game at Anaheim Stadium -- the only other 15-inning game in All-Star history -- lasted three hours and 41 minutes.
The American League extended its All-Star game unbeaten streak to a record 12 games, securing home-field advantage in the World Series.
Brad Lidge, the last available NL pitcher, took the loss. Scott Kazmir, the last available AL pitcher, worked one inning for the victory, after making 104 pitches Sunday.
The AL survived a hail of missed opportunities. In the 10th inning, the AL had the bases loaded with none out and did not score. In the 11th, center fielder Nate McLouth threw out the would-be winning run at the plate, with Russell Martin expertly blocking the plate to prevent his predecessor as Dodgers catcher, Dioner Navarro, from scoring. In the 12th, the AL had a runner at third base with one out and did not score.
Papelbon, the Boston closer, gave a perfectly reasonable if not entirely modest answer during Monday's interview session, to the question of which AL closer should work the ninth inning Tuesday.
"If I was managing the team, I would close," he said. "I'm not managing the team, so it doesn't matter."
This was not considered an appropriate answer, since Papelbon said something other than the ninth inning in Yankee Stadium should be left to Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, so the New York Daily News labeled him "PAPELBUM" on its back cover Tuesday, in big letters.
