Ten years ago tonight (7/9/2002)

[hawing]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/2002/allstar/news/2002/07/09/allstar_game_ap/lg_selig_ap.jpg

 

It's been a decade now? Woah.

[MadScientist]

Can we forget about this for another decade? 2002 - a year so bad even the All Star Game was a fail.

[brettac1]

What a magical year 2002 was.

[owbc]

That was probably the low point in Brewers franchise history...or maybe it was Jose Hernandez chasing the strikeout record at the end of the year?

[nate82]

This is my favorite All Star game the game was actually rather good minus the ending of the game.

[hawing]

We attended the Sunday activities and the Tuesday "game" (I gave up my home run derby ticket so the SO could bring his teenage nephew). It was just about the first time I'd seen so many people wearing Brewers gear in one place (having not been at the 1982 postseason). I was struck by how many Milwaukee fans turned out and represented. At the time, I figured it might also be the highest-profile sporting event I'd ever attend. So I found much about the events to interest me without dwelling too much on the bizarre non-ending.

 

When I think of how much more commonplace Brewers gear is nowadays, it gladdens my heart and embiggens my spirit. The franchise has come a good distance since 2002.

[trwi7]

That picture sums up the last 15 years of Selig's ownership.

[Patrick425]

This is my favorite All Star game the game was actually rather good minus the ending of the game.

 

Exactly!! It was a great game. I can't believe that people were so bothered that there was not a "conclusion" to an exhibition game.

[Invader3K]

Exactly!! It was a great game. I can't believe that people were so bothered that there was not a "conclusion" to an exhibition game.

 

If there had been, would anyone be talking about it ten years later either?

[hawing]

That picture sums up the last 15 years of Selig's ownership.

I would certainly call it a hangdog expression.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I still don't understand why everyone got all bent out of shape at Bud for that. It's an exhibition game (or was), they ran out of pitchers...without screwing a couple pitchers by maxing them out or throwing a position player out there, what the heck was he supposed to do? OK, maybe they should have had more of a contingency plan in place but the game was fun and they put on a good show...isn't that what an exhibition is supposed to be? The national media just used it as an excuse to attack Selig when they were really upset over a variety of other issues.

[thebruce44]

My brother and I got hooked up with great seats a few rows back behind home plate. It was the best experience I've ever had in a baseball stadium. Personally, I could care less about the tie, the whole experience up until the fan's reaction to that, was awesome.

[Bikeage77]

I thought the Brewers shoulda done a bobblehead of Selig with that same pose to commemerate the 10 year anniversary. I even wrote em a letter. I got no reply.

[owbc]

Ultimately, it's about image and public perception. That picture from Selig shows it all...that's exactly how many people (especially in the media circles) think he handles MLB in general. If you think about the game rationally, like many in this thread have, it's stupid that everyone got so upset. But for those looking to blame Selig for broader problems in MLB it was a golden opportunity and they took full advantage of it. The Monday morning quarterbacking was crazy, especially since not a single logical alternate solution was proposed that would have given the game any more credibility than a tie.

[thebruce44]

Ultimately, it's about image and public perception. That picture from Selig shows it all...that's exactly how many people (especially in the media circles) think he handles MLB in general. If you think about the game rationally, like many in this thread have, it's stupid that everyone got so upset. But for those looking to blame Selig for broader problems in MLB it was a golden opportunity and they took full advantage of it. The Monday morning quarterbacking was crazy, especially since not a single logical alternate solution was proposed that would have given the game any more credibility than a tie.

 

Agreed, but those that hate Bud would have just found something else to get mad at him about.

[RightFieldCoder]

Ultimately, it's about image and public perception. That picture from Selig shows it all...that's exactly how many people (especially in the media circles) think he handles MLB in general. If you think about the game rationally, like many in this thread have, it's stupid that everyone got so upset. But for those looking to blame Selig for broader problems in MLB it was a golden opportunity and they took full advantage of it. The Monday morning quarterbacking was crazy, especially since not a single logical alternate solution was proposed that would have given the game any more credibility than a tie.

If a pitcher didn't want to pitch any more, all they had to do was groove a pitch or two. I'm sure one of the All-Stars would have ended the game and made it one of the best ever.

[RockCoCougars]

EDIT to remove Greinke comment that I somehow put in this thread.

 

At any rate, I blamed the managers of the game more than I did Selig. Though the talking heads from the media flew way off the handle, besides gamblers who really cared about the result of the game at that point anyway?

[Eck17]

I would want to know how mad people would have gotten at Bud if they did extend the game somehow, and someone got hurt. Imagine the outrage then; people would have been asking why didn't it just end in a tie? It's just an exhibition game.

[LouisEly]

Blame Mike Mussina and Cito Gaston. Mussina's the one who got up in the bullpen even though Gaston wasn't going to put him in the game, despite the game being played in Baltimore. Henceforth the "Cito Sucks" t-shirts, and the push to make sure that everybody gets into the game, culminating in running out of pitchers at the All-Star game in Milwaukee. If Mussina hadn't done that, or if Gaston had put him in the game (for chrissakes, play the home players in front of the home crowd!), that wouldn't have happened - at least not at Miller Park.

 

You're jerks, Mussina and Gaston. Complete knee-biters.