The 2006 All-Star Game – Another National League Loss
Things started out well for the senior circuit in the 2006 All-Star Game when the Dodgers’ Brad Penny, who looks like a professional wrestler, struck out the side in the first. Detroit’s Kenny Rogers, who last year at this time was being vilified for his run-in with a cameraman as a member of the Rangers, stranded a runner at second when he fooled Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay with a change-up on the outside part of the plate to get the Buc’s outfielder swinging. Penny gave up an opposite field homer to free-swinging Vlad Guerrero of the Angels in the second, but Rogers reciprocated when he threw the Mets’ David Wright a gopherball in the bottom of the frame. With the 2006 All-Star Game knotted at 1-1, each side changed pitchers.
The National League scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the third; a run that looked like it would be the game winner of the 2006 All-Star Game for the longest time. The Nationals’ Alfonso Soriano singled off of Toronto’s Roy Halladay and stole second with one out. The Mets’ Carlos Beltran singled to center. In what prove to be a key play in the 2006 All-Star Game, Soriano, who never saw a stop sign on the bases he didn’t want to run through, did just that. Third base coach Jerry Narron’s signals were ignored by Soriano, who was gunned down at the plate by Toronto’s Vernon Wells. The baserunning gaffe kept the NL out of a potential big inning. Beltran, who took second on the throw to home, then stole third and scored on a Halladay wild pitch to give his team a 2-1 advantage in the 2006 All-Star Game. Tigers’ catcher Ivan Rodriguez did not have his best moment in that half inning, as he allowed the two stolen bases and was unable to keep the wild pitch in front of him.
The 2006 All-Star Game would stay at 2-1 all the way to the top of the ninth. Following Penny, six NL hurlers allowed but three hits to the AL batters for the next six innings. Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki looked particularly overmatched on this night, harmlessly flailing away at offerings and going 0 for 3. The Yankees’ captain, Derek Jeter, struck out a pair of times in his forgettable 0 for 3 night. Unfortunately for the National League, their batsmen did not fare much better. In fact, after Halladay, no American League pitcher would allow a hit. NL skipper Phil Garner of the Astros sent Trevor Hoffman out to finish off the game. Hoffman, whose signature entrance song in San Diego’s Petco Park is “Hell’s Bells”, got two outs on comebackers to the mound, but then saw things go to hell in a hand basket.
White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who along with Beltran had two hits in the 2006 All-Star Game, hit a single into left. Toronto’s Troy Glaus, who had hit into a double play earlier, atoned for that when he smacked a ground rule double that would have scored pinch-runner Jose Lopez had it not bounced into the seats. This bit of luck was the last that the National League would enjoy, as the Rangers’ Michael Young stepped to the plate against Hoffman. After falling behind 0-2, Young rapped a low line drive into the right centerfield gap that rolled all the way to the wall. Two runs scored and the eventual 2006 All-Star Game MVP Young wound up on third with a triple. Hoffman retired the Twins’ sensation, Joe Mauer, to finally get that elusive third out.
With the score now 3-2 in his favor, AL manager Ozzie Guillen of the defending champion White Sox played his ace. The Yankees’ brilliant Mariano Rivera survived an error at third by Lopez to nail down the game, getting Milwaukee’s Carlos Lee to pop up to second with the tying run at second base. The save was Rivera’s third in All-Star competition, tying him with Dennis Eckersley for the most ever. Toronto’s B. J. Ryan, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, got the win in the 2006 All-Star Game while Hoffman was saddled with the loss. The winning AL only had seven hits, one more than their opponents bats produced.The bitter defeat for the National League in the 2006 All-Star Game means that the World Series will once again open in an AL park, and the deciding sixth and seventh games will be played on AL soil, if they are needed. The way things have been going for the National League lately, they probably won’t be.
