Sport: The All-Star Thing

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Though it will never show in the record books, the niftiest squeeze play of the 1970 baseball season was pulled off by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. When he first announced that All-Star Game selection would be done by the fans instead of the players, the "dream game" suddenly became a nightmare. Customers, rightfully charging that several deserving prospects were left off the ballot, howled about "Bowie's boo-boo." Players complained about the "meaningless popularity contest." As it happened, a large write-in vote rectified most of the injustices of the ballot. And a poll of the players showed that they agreed with twelve of the 16 starters (managers pick the pitchers) selected by the fans. Though Kuhn may not have planned it that way, the controversy served his original intent: provoking interest in what many fans and players have come to regard as an all-star bore.

The stirring came none too soon for last week's All-Star Game in Cincinnati's new Riverfront Stadium. Through seven listless innings, the best that the super sluggers of both leagues could manage was nine singles and twelve strikeouts. The first extra-base hit did not come until the eighth inning, when the Orioles' Brooks Robinson tripled and the American Leaguers took a 4-to-1 lead. The National Leaguers, powered by the Giants' Dick Dietz and Willie McCovey, finally woke up in the ninth to tie the score and send the game into extra innings. The spectators who remained, including Richard Nixon, were rewarded with a rare slam-bang finish.

In the last half of the twelfth, the Reds' Pete Rose singled, advanced to second, and then came barreling for home on a single to centerfield by the Cubs' Jim Hickman. His way blocked by the Indians' Ray Fosse, Rose hurtled headlong into the burly catcher, knocked him into a somersault and landed splat on the plate for the winning run. "If I had slid," Rose said after the National League's 5-to-4 victory, "I would have broken both legs." As it was, Rose suffered a bruised thigh and Fosse a severely wrenched shoulder—injuries that will temporarily sideline both players. "I'm sorry Ray's hurt," Rose said. Then he added an utterly unnecessary observation: "I play to win."

Not all the performers share Rose's enthusiasm for the All-Star thing. Despite Bowie Kuhn's drum beating for "one of the nation's most glamorous sporting events," some top players would rather take the day off than risk an injury in a game that has no bearing on the pennant race. Recently faced with the prospect of suiting up for his 13th glamorous event, the Pirates' Roberto Clemente said: "To hell with the All-Star Game. I can use the rest." Roberto, who pleaded a "pain in the neck," finally agreed to play—but only after National League President Charles ("Chub") Feeney threatened to crack down on cop-outs. Al Kaline and Dick McAuliffe of the Detroit Tigers had themselves scratched from the A.L. roster because of disabling injuries. Two days before the All-Star encounter, though, both men recovered long enough to play against the Baltimore Orioles.

Beg-Offs. Out of personal pride if nothing else, such stars as McCovey and Dietz turned out for the game despite their very real injuries. Nonetheless, as Yankee Manager Ralph Houk explains: