A reader at Viva El Birdos did some research and concluded that Dan Uggla's performance Tuesday night was the worst ever for a position player.

David Steele didn't like what went on during the All-Star game because of the over-reaction to the 2002 tie:

And this, we're being reminded in the days afterward, was a "classic." Unlike that disgrace in 2002, when it didn't count, when no pitcher's season (and thus his team's) was potentially ruined by overwork in an exhibition game, when we didn't have to endure late-inning managerial strategizing, and when we went to bed at a decent hour. How did we ever live through that nightmare?

Just file this one away under Things In Sports We Were Convinced Had To Change, But Really Didn't. Right next to the college football bowl system. That, too, seemed archaic, until we got a look at the alternative (the Bowl Championship Series).

He seems very concerned with George Sherrill:

Let's hope, meanwhile, that Orioles closer George Sherrill's answer won't be, "I blew out my arm in the middle of the best season of my life." In which case, Dave Trembley might tell his grandkids, "That was the beginning of the end of my managerial career."

On second thought, All-Star ties just aren't that big a deal. So Bud, pal, chum, this thing you fixed a few years back, can you go ahead and unfix it?

Of course, Sherrill had a pretty easy 2 1/3 innings. He threw 25 pitches, a level he's reached or exceeded four times during the regular season. He wasn't exactly overworked.

Steele does make a good point about how the reaction to the tie might have been more driven by Selig's befuddlement than the actual result.

The All-Star pulled in better ratings this year:

The first nine innings of Tuesday night's 15-inning marathon on Fox drew a 9.3 fast national rating and 16 share, the network said Wednesday. That's up 11 percent from the 8.4/15 in 2007.

John Royal managed to get photos of 41 of the 42 statues placed around New York City for the All-Star game.

Update: Here's a gallery of all 42.

Peter Abraham gives Terry Francona his due:

Meanwhile, whether Yankee fans want to hear it or not, Francona deserves your acclaim. He took Jeter and A-Rod out of the game in the middle of innings so they could get applause from the crowd. He used Mo exactly right. He was respectful as he could be to the tradition and history of the Yankees. He helped make the game what it was for the home team.

"I can't say enough about how great Terry has been through this whole thing," Girardi said.

Not that this would ever happen, of course, but when the Red Sox come to the Bronx in August, fans should let Francona know they appreciate what he did.

Terry is a class act. He's at the top with the best managers of people in the game.

In case you think the players don't care about the All-Star game, I give you Justin Morneau:

"The starters had it easy," Morneau said. "Five innings, they were out of there. Every at-bat, it seemed like we had a chance to win the game late. It was pretty intense. Guys were snapping after making outs. You could tell guys wanted that game pretty bad."

Bud Selig would not talk about the possibility of a tie in Tuesday's All-Star game:

"It will not happen again," Selig said of a tie. "We've added players to the roster. We've done things. There have been a lot of questions about all that, but I really believe that the things that we did [helped]. I mean, if we hadn't done them, tonight there's no question there would have been a problem. But we did. And, look, it worked out.

"We were going to play the game to the end. That was the contingency, we were playing to the end."

Francona had a more realistic take on the subject:

"You can't expect a 15-, 16-inning All-Star Game. And if it does, there's nothing wrong with a tie in my mind. It's not like the Milwaukee game where you go [11] and it's a tie. I mean, if you go 16 innings and no one comes up and wins an All-Star Game, you can chalk it up to a tie and be pretty happy with a tie. It's not like it could have been prevented."

There should be a contingency in place. The team with the higher OBA in the game gets home field in case of a tie, or more total bases, or even just more hits. This doesn't need to be known to anyone. In fact, the right thing to do might be to come up with four tie breaking stats, and every year draw them in a random order and keep it secret so the players can't try to game a tie. They shouldn't play the game differently because they are tied in extra innings. However, some way of awarding home field based on the stats in the game needs to be worked out, even if it happens only once every forty years.

It was a long game to watch, but there were plenty of exciting moments. Good pitching, scoring threats, errors, a home run, stolen bases, close plays, the game had it all. Everyone got to play, I believe.

That's 11 wins and one tie for the AL in the last twelve games.

Update: Drew wins the MVP.

Lidge comes in for the bottom of the 15th and two of the first three batters single. That puts men on 1st and 2nd for Drew.

Update: Drew works the count 3-2. After fouling off a pitch, Drew takes a pitch in the dirt and the bases are loaded. So far this situation has resulted in forces at the plate for the AL.

Update: Michael Young hits a fly ball to medium right, but Corey Hart makes a poor throw and Justin Morneau scores from third. The AL wins 4-3, and once again the AL Champ will host four games of the World Series. This helps the Rays and Red Sox and hurts the Cubs if any of those teams make the final round.

The NL hits two long balls in the top of the fourteenth, but both are caught by J.D. Drew. The AL gets their sixth chance to walk off with a win.

Update: Webb starts the bottom of the fourteenth. He was not supposed to pitch this game. Given that it's now Wednesday, I guess he has two days rest.

Update: Webb strikes out two as he retires the side in order.

Update: Kazmir comes out to pitch the top of the fifteenth inning. He's the last pitcher for the AL, and since he pitched Sunday, he won't be able to last very long. Does the AL forfeit if they can't field a team?

The NL gets the leadoff man on, but that's it. It seems a lot of batters are reaching base, they just can't reach the plate.

Update: Another poor play by Uggla puts a runner on first with one out. Can the AL bring Drew around to score?

Update: Drew steals a base with two out.

Update: Doesn't matter as Quentin strikes out. To the fourteenth!

Carlos Guillen hits the first pitch of the bottom of the twelfth deep in leftfield, doubling off the wall. A few more feet and this game would be over.

Update: Sizemore pulls the ball and gets Guillen to third with one out.

Update: Longoria strikes out.

Update: Cook walks Morneau to pitch to Kinsler.

Update: Kinsler grounds out. Thirteen, anyone?

A walk and a sac bunt that's beaten out put the first two on for the NL in the 12th. Another bunt puts runners at second and third, and Tejada is walked to load the bases, bringing up Uggla, who hit into a DP last time up.

Update: Uggla strikes out.

Update: Sherrill comes in and strikes out Adrian Gonzalez to end the inning. Lots of clutch pitching in this game.

Soria gives up a single, but that's it as the NL fails to score in the eleventh. I wonder how long they can go before they run out of pitchers?

Update: Webb goes down to the bullpen. The AL has runners on first and second with one out. Kinsler also reached, but was thrown out stealing.

Update: Young singles up the middle, and Navarro tries to score. McLouth makes a perfect throw, and Martin makes a perfect block and tag. The ball came in right where Martin needed to make the tag.

Update: Guzman throws out Quentin to end the inning. The AL had three runners thrown out at the plate in the last two innings. Because Francona used up the bench early, he couldn't pinch run for Navarro.

A bad night for Uggla as he follows the double play with an error to put the winning run on first for the AL with none out.

Update: Quentin hits a hard ground right through Uggla's legs. I almost might not give Dan an error on that one because it was hit so hard. However, if it goes between your legs, it's always an error. He may end up the MVP for the AL. First and third, none out.

Update: The NL loads the bases intentionally, and gets a force at home for the first out.

Update: They get a second force at the plate. The AL gets one more chance this inning.

Update: Morneau hits a slow roller to Tejada. Miguel makes a nice throw to first for the third out. The AL blows a great opportunity to win the game.

Rivera pitches in the tenth. He starts the inning with a strikeout, but singles by Martin and Tejada put runners at first and third. He gets Uggla to ground into a double play, however, and the game goes to the bottom of the tenth still tied at three.

Ryan Dempster strikes out the side in the ninth, and we go to extra innings. Terry Francona used all his position players, so they're in for the duration. The NL may be limited in pitchers as Webb isn't supposed to pitch, and Lincecum is in the hospital. Is there another Selig Special on the way?

Update: Of course, if the game ends in a tie, who gets home field in the World Series?

Mariano Rivera comes on with a man on first and one out. He goes to a 3-2 count on Ludwick, and gets the strike'em out, throw'em out double play. The AL now gets the chance for the walk-off win.

With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Hurdle replaces Brian Wilson with Billy Wagner. Sizemore singles and gets the first meaningful steal of the night for the AL. Longoria follows with a ground rule double to tie the game. Without the steal, Grady only gets to third. Wagner gets the blown save, and we go to the ninth tied at three.

Miguel Tejada leads off with a single off Jonathan Papelbon, which makes the taunting of the Red Sox closer even worse. Miguel steals second and goes to third on an errant throw. Adrian Gonzalez hits a sacrifice fly to plate the run and give the lead back to the NL 3-2. That steal attempt worked to the NL's advantage.

Justin Morneau and J.D. Drew combine to tie the game at two. Morneau doubles leading off the bottom of the seventh. Then with two out, J.D. Drew, in his first All-Star at bat, homers to right to plate himself and Justin. Edinson Volquez is the first NL pitcher to get tagged for runs tonight.

Hurdle is conserving his pitchers. Haren just finished his second scoreless inning. The NL has used three hurlers so far. Francona had Lee pitch two innings, but everyone else went just one. If there's a tie, the NL is in better shape.

The AL is also running, stealing their fourth base in the sixth (they've also had one picked off). It's a nice demonstration of how stolen bases don't help much if the pitcher gets the hitters out.

Ramirez and Utley single leading off the sixth, putting runners on first and third. Lance Berkman takes Duchscherer to deep center to drive in Hanley with a sacrifice fly to put the National League up 2-0. Pujols singles to center, and Duchscherer is the first pitcher tonight who is not fooling anyone.

The AL put two runners on against Dan Haren in the bottom of the fifth. Ichiro strikes out. Jeter battles to 3-2, the third ball very close to a taken strike three. Derek grounds back to the box, however and the NL still leads 1-0.

Matt Holliday takes Ervin Santana the other way, homering to right in the top of the fifth to break the scoreless tie. The solo shot puts the NL up 1-0.

Carlos Zambrano pitches his second scoreless inning. Bradley reached on a Hanley Ramirez error, but Carlos picks him off first. Still no score.

Update: We have our first position substitution as Grady Sizemore goes into center and Hamilton replaces Manny Ramirez in left.

Albert Pujols hits a line drive hard off the wall at the foul line in right. Ichiro is right on it and throws Albert out at second. However, from the replay, it looked like Albert was safe. Roy Halladay throw the fourth shutout inning for the American League.

Correction: It was Pujols, not Belle.

Saunders and Zambrano pitch the third. Each allows a base runner, but there's still no score. This is shaping up like 1986.

Ben Sheets walks two, but retires the three Red Sox batters he faces, striking out Manny and Youkilis. Still no score after two.

Chipper Jones singles off Cliff Lee, but he strikes out his third batter of the game and walks off the field with two scoreless innings. The AL will go to the bullpen in the third.

Ben Sheets gives up a bad-hop single to Derek Jeter but strikes out Josh Hamilton and gets A-Rod to foul out to the catcher. The pitchers look like they are in control early.

Cliff Lee retires the side in order, striking out the first two batter in the first. Pitching to Hanley Ramirez and Chase Utley, Lee appeared to be using their power against them, getting them to swing hard at off-speed pitches.

They're doing a nice job this year of mixing in the starters with Hall of Famers at the various positions. They just introduced Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, George Brett and Wade Boggs at third. Three of those four played for one team during their careers. Banks, Yount and Ripken did the same at short.

Update: That was quite good. Fox usually has too many bells and whistles, but that was very dignified.

Update: They drove Steinbrenner out to deliver balls to Berra, Ford, Jackson and Gossage who will throw out the first pitches. The four of them gave each gave George a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Steinbrenner didn't get out of the cart.

I like this idea for sprucing up the All-Star game:

Here's another way to liven up those late innings. There's little riveting about the winning league getting the home-field advantage in the World Series. Give the winning league's fans 10 percent off on all stadium food, beer and programs for the next month and you better believe there will be some serious fan energy off which the players will feed. Folk heroes, which the All-Star Game doesn't make anymore, could be born.

It might even increase attendance!

Before the final round of the home run derby starts, a fan gets to call a shot to try to win a car. Hamilton didn't get the ball out of the park, and now it's Morneau's turn to take his one swing.

Update: Morneau doesn't get it out of the park either. No car for a lucky fan. Morneau goes first, and the scores are reset to zero.

Update: Morneau hits five. That might hold up if Hamilton wore himself out in the first round.

Update: Hamilton is hitting line drives, and has just two in five outs.

Update: He's up to eight outs with just three home runs.

Update: The crowd came to their feet to help, but he makes the ninth out.

Update: Hamilton hits a grounder for the last out. Morneau wins the contest 5-3. Everyone is going to remember the shots in Hamilton's first round, however.

Congratulations to Justin Morneau for winning the marathon, not the sprint.

Lance Berkman hits six to bring his total to 14. That's half of Hamilton's first round.

Update: ESPN is interviewing Reggie Jackson. I thought he was banned from the network after he offended everyone in a Baseball Tonight production meeting before the 1997 World Series.

Update: Morneau just hit his 15th to knock Berkman out of the competition.

Update: Morneau finishes with 17.

Update: Braun hits some shots, but falls short. It will be Hamilton and Morneau in the finals. Hamilton is batting, and he's hit another four with two outs.

Josh Hamilton hits his first home run to the back of the bleachers in right-center. I'm actually more impressed with those shots than the upper deck jobs. His second is off the back of the wall there, even farther toward center. A fantastic shot.

Update: He hits another one even farther to center. That's two over 500 feet. He might end up hitting the MasterCard sign.

Update: He hits the ninth of the round. He's getting the most distance and the most homers.

Update: He hits 25. He didn't even hit that one well (at least compared to the others). It was a line drive just over the wall.

Update: He just hit his 17th to the back of the black. He came very close to teh MasterCard sign on that one. This is like watching McGwire at Fenway in 1999.

Update: He just tied Abreu's first round record. His 24th home run goes deep into the black seats in centerfield.

Update: He finishes with 28, 20 more than any other hitter tonight. Since the first two rounds are totaled, he might need to hit in the second round. Just an amazing performance. I love his 71 year old pitcher. Clay Counsil got quite a work out.

Ryan Braun made five outs before he started hitting home runs, but he's now at seven with one out to go. He's hit shots from right-center to the upper deck down the line. He finishes with seven and moves on to the second round. Josh Hamilton will need seven to advance, six puts him in a three-way tie for the fourth spot.

Justin Morneau is hitting monster shots. In addition to upper deck shots, he's hit two to the back of the alley in right center between the grandstand and the bleachers. He hits eight to move on in the competition.

Lance Berkman is putting balls in the upper deck. The way to hit home runs tonight appears to be to get a lot of loft.

Update: Lance ends up with eight to take the lead. That knocks Longoria out. Five went into the upper deck, and the last was just short of the black seats in centerfield. A young man leaned over and caught it.

Chase Utley moves into third with five home runs, most of them late in the sequence.

Mark Strittmatter is catching for the home run derby tonight. My good friend Jim Storer just called to let me know Mark used to play for the New Haven Ravens. At one point, he was called to the majors, the game was rained out, and Mark was sent back down. He did get a cup of coffee in the majors, but went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He's currently the bullpen coach for the Rockies.

Evan Longoria only hits three home runs, but two were down the line into the upper deck. One thing I like about tough home runs parks is the derby goes a lot quicker.

Grady Sizemore hits three of his first five out of the park, and none were cheap shots. The first was into the stands in the right-center alley, and the third was into the upper deck down the line.

Update Grady now has three into the upper deck.

Update: Sizemore finishes with six, all impressive shots.

Dan Uggla hits six home runs to start the home run derby. The balls he smacked went a long way. Most were down the line, rows back or in the upper deck. Not bad for a righty at Yankee Stadium. He hit one to center, but most he pulled down the line, which is what you want to do if you're a righty here.

The lineup analysis for the National League is here. The lineup Clint Hurdle constructed scores 7.428 runs per game. Wow. The best lineup has Chipper at the top of the order and scores 7.647 runs. It has the two Cubs at the bottom, except Soto bats eighth and Fukudome bats ninth. The worst lineup puts Braun in the leadoff spot and scores 7.049 runs per game. I wouldn't mind that every game.

The AL lineup pales in comparison. The lineup as constructed by Francona scores 6.359 runs per game. The best lineup has Terry's top two hitters, Ichiro and Jeter, at the bottom of the order with Jeter batting 8th and Ichiro 9th. Still, that lineup scored 6.639, way below the worst NL lineup. The worst lineup for the AL scores just 6.121 runs per game.

This is a very good sign for the NL gaining back home field advantage in the World Series. We'll see if it hold up, or if the NL folds like they did in interleague play.

The starting lineups for the All-Star Game are out. Both look pretty scary. The National League looks like it has more power. The only non-slugger in the lineup is Fukudome. The AL has a few, Ichiro, Jeter, Mauer and Pedroia, although all can certainly do a good job of getting on base. At first glance, I'd have to give an edge to the NL. I'll run them through the Lineup Analysis tool later and see how many runs they should score.

Ben Sheets gets the nod as the NL starter in the All-Star Game. It seems all the other great candidates pitched Sunday. Not that there is anything wrong with Sheets starting, but don't the other NL teams want to win home field advantage? Webb, Hamels and Lincecum all made starts on Sunday. If you want people to really think this one counts, then teams should treat it like it does.

Terry Francona named Cliff Lee the All-Star Game starting pitcher. Given that Justin Duchscherer pitched yesterday, it was a fairly easy choice.

I didn't buy into starting Mariano Rivera. He should pitch the end of the game, not the beginning. However, if Mussina had been picked for the team, I could see him getting the start in front of the home town fans, and for his career achievements.

With customization of jerseys, I wonder how many of these we'll see at the All-Star game?

Thanks to Pete Morisseau for the graphic and idea.

Mustaches for Giambi.

The Boston Globe lists the players up for election to the 32nd spot on the roster. I would suggest Longoria and Burrell, but Giambi is a perfectly good choice. If you are still upset about his steroid use, however, Longoria is a great alternative.

The All-Star teams were named this afternoon. On my radio how this week, I discussed who I though should be the starters.

I disagreed with the following positions.

NL Catcher -- Martin instead of Soto.
NL First Base -- Pujols instead of Berkman.
AL Second Base -- Kinsler instead of Pedroia.
NL Outfield -- Pat Burrell, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Ludwick.
AL Outfield -- Carlos Quentin, J.D. Drew.

I picked a leftfielder, centerfielder and rightfielder rather than just lump outfielders together. I don't really have a problem with Soto, Berkman or Pedroia. Manny and Soriano, however, just aren't having great years. I can see Ramirez getting a pass for his great career, but it looks like Cubs fans were stuffing the box for Soriano.

Update: I see the only one of my picks that didn't make the team at least as a reserve was Burrell.

The Mets firing Willie Randolph seems to have put his coaching the All-Star game in jeopardy. I'm sorry, Willie is a long time New York favorite. Put him in a Yankees uniform and let him coach. He's been treated poorly enough.

Update: Omar Minaya's press conference is coming up on ESPNews.

Cameron Martin wonders if Terry Francona will start Mike Mussina in the All-Star game:

Lately I'm reminded of the 1993 All-Star Game, because I wonder if Red Sox' manager Terry Francona would pick Mike Mussina (now 15 years removed from his hometown shutout) as the starting pitcher in next month's All-Star Game in the Bronx.

At this stage of the season, most people seem to think that Cleveland's Cliff Lee is going to start the game for the American League; it doesn't appear to be in question, though it should be. Lee became the AL's first 10-game winner yesterday, but really, he did most of his great work in April and May, when half the league is asleep at the wheel and guys named Cliff are able to sneak up on people. Granted, Lee has compiled some impressive numbers to date: 10-1 record, 2.52 ERA, 1.073 WHIP. But over his last five starts, he has a 6.04 ERA and has allowed 52 baserunners in 28.1 innings. The thing is, the Indians have gone 4-1 in those starts, so it makes it look like ole Cliff is just chugging along with his Cy Young season. In truth, he peaked about a month ago. Mike Mussina, on the other hand, has been red hot following a dismal start.

I have my doubts. I assume Dice-K will be healthy by then, and if Terry doesn't pick Lee, he'd go with one of his own. However:

Don't worry, Yankee Universe, I'm sure your boy Mussina will make the team. And I'm sure he'll see action at some point. After all, there's no way the American League manager would warm up the hometown hero but never put him into the game...

That would be just too cruel to happen twice.

Anaheim gets the 2010 All-Star Game. Will they do the fan fest at Disneyland?

There are only six games scheduled for tomorrow!

There's a free preview going on at Baseball Prospectus this week. My latest article on All-Star game ratings is up, plus you can enjoy all the fine writers and research featured on the site.

I'll be interested to see how this year's game turned out. It was a competitive contest which tend to rate higher. Bonds playing in the game generated some controversy, which can bring in viewers. Part of the rating is bringing in viewers, but a big part is holding viewers, and a good game helps the latter.

Update: All-Star ratings fell this year, although more people watched. I would have thought a well played, tight game would have attracted more viewers.

Albert Pujols wanted to play last night:

Albert Pujols was angry about being left on the All-Star bench and the St. Louis slugger took aim at the National League manager -- who just happened to be Tony La Russa of his own Cardinals.

"It's the All-Star game. He can do what he wants," Pujols said Tuesday night. "He does whatever he wants. If I wasn't expecting to play, I wouldn't have come up here."
Pujols, the NL MVP in 2005 and key to the Cardinals' win in the World Series last year, said La Russa didn't talk to him the entire game.

Pujols could only watch when Aaron Rowand flied out with the bases loaded to end the American League's 5-4 win.

"If he wants to get upset, he can get upset," La Russa said. "Whatever he wants to do, he can do. It's America. That wasn't the most important thing tonight."

Right. The important thing was winning, and a hit by Pujols ends the game. La Russa's strategy was set from the beginning however, and he stuck to it:

La Russa said he indeed was saving his star player in case the game went long.

"Once we lost (Miguel) Cabrera and (Freddy) Sanchez, he was the guy we were going to use to protect ourselves in case we kept playing because of Albert's versatility," La Russa said. "I think we had the right guy at bat."

Tony explained that early in evening. He probably should have told Albert. And he probably should have thrown the game plan out the window for that last at bat. La Russa had problems with Rolen at the end of last year, I wonder if he has problems with Albert going forward. I'm not sure that Tony can survive acrimony with the franchise player.

The All-Star game proved to be quite entertaining. Some nice plays, some nice ricochets, some power, some pitching and ninth inning drama. Ichiro and Reyes each picked up three hits from the leadoff spot. Ichro hit the first inside-the-park homer in All-Star history, and wins the All-Star MVP. The AL pitchers struck out nine batters to the NL's one. All in all, a fun evening of baseball.

The NL comes up in the bottom of the ninth trailing 5-2, and they'll face J.J. Putz.

Update: Putz strikes out Holliday to start the ninth.

Update: McCann pops out to shortstop. Dmitri Young pinch hits.

Update: Roberts can't handle a Dmitri Young grounder to the outfield and Young reaches with a single to keep the game alive.

Update: Soriano gets ahead in the count 3-1 and drives a pitch down the rightfield line for a two-run homer. The AL lead is down to one run, 5-4.

Update: Putz falls behind Hardy 3-1, then walks him to put the tying run on base. That's it for Putz as K-Rod comes on to try for the save.

Update: Rodriguez faces Derrek Lee.

Update: Lee works the count to 3-2, fouls off a pitch, then checks his swing on a pitch in the dirt. Men on first and second with two out for Orlando Hudson. Pujols is on the bench.

Update: Hudson walks on five pitches. The AL is turning into the 1986 Red Sox here. AL pitchers only issued one walk in the first eight innings, three here in the ninth. Rowand is up.

Update: Rowand flies out to Rios to end the game. The AL wins for the tenth time in eleven tries (one tie) and the World Series will start in the American League park once again.

Victor Martinez follows Sizemore's strikeout with a two run homer to give the American League some insurance with two out in the eighth. Billy Wagner gives up the long ball that makes the score 5-2 AL.