By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 12, 2006; E01
PITTSBURGH, July 11 -- As the top of the ninth inning played out Tuesday night, with American League runners clogging the bases against one of the top closers of this generation, the precious, inherent balance between exhibition and meaningful game that even now defines baseball's all-star game shifted decidedly towards the latter. The AL, which has owned this game for a decade now, bore down on San Diego Padres stopper Trevor Hoffman, coming suddenly, fiercely to life.
One out away from a defeat that, given the recent historical context, would have felt like Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas, three straight AL hitters went single, double, triple against Hoffman.
The last of those, off the bat of the Texas Rangers' Michael Young, brought home two runs and delivered the AL a stunning 3-2 victory in front of 38,904 at PNC Park, extending the league's winning streak in all-star game play to nine straight, excluding a tie in 2002.
The victory means Young's Rangers, Troy Glaus's Toronto Blue Jays, Paul Konerko's Chicago White Sox, or some other pennant-winning AL team, will hold home-field advantage in the World Series -- a not-insignificant edge that, in the past two seasons, was used by the AL champs in winning the Series in four-game sweeps.
"You never know," Konerko said, "when that first loss turns the tides, and the other side wins a bunch in a row. We were on the verge tonight. But we weren't going to be the ones to lose."
It was Konerko's two-out single to left that launched the winning rally against Hoffman in the ninth. It was followed by Glaus's ground-rule double into the left field corner. Then, on an 0-2 fastball, Young smoked a liner into right-center field. When New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran took an overly aggressive route toward the ball, it skipped all the way to the wall, allowing both runners to score.
"For us to win this game, with that guy [Hoffman] on the mound," said Rangers outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., "you start to think we might never lose one of these again."
Baseball has perhaps never experienced a major event in such a picturesque setting. Pittsburgh's dazzling PNC Park, which opened in 2001, possesses a view unrivaled by any sporting venue this side of San Francisco. The Allegheny River lies beyond the right field stands, with the stately Roberto Clemente Bridge spanning the water between the stadium and the majestic downtown skyline.
The presence of Clemente, the beloved former Pirates star who died in a plane crash in 1972 at the age of 38, hovered over the proceedings. Many players wore yellow wristbands bearing Clemente's initials, and the game was stopped after the fifth inning so that Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig could present the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award to Clemente, whose widow, Vera, accepted on her late husband's behalf.
In the AL dugout, AL Manager Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox -- among the many Hispanic figures in the game who consider Clemente a hero -- was shown on television wiping away tears.
Perhaps many years from now, it will seem odd that in a season in which legends Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are all still active -- each of them among the greatest players in history at their positions -- none of them was present Tuesday night.
Instead, this All-Star Game showcased a sturdy crop of youngsters and newcomers, including 25 first-time all-stars.
There was New York Mets third baseman David Wright, 23, hooking a line drive around the foul pole in left in the bottom of the second, becoming the 13th player in history to homer in his first all-star game at-bat.
There was St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, 26, the widely acknowledged greatest hitter in the game, making a fine defensive play in the third. On a bad-hop bouncer that shot out of range of his mitt, Pujols stabbed the wayward ball with his bare hand and jogged to the bag for the out.
And there was hometown favorite Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates, 28, making a pair of defensive gems -- one at shortstop (a leaping stab of a liner) and one at second base (a backhanded stop of a scorched grounder).
But the hero of the night wound up being Young, the Rangers' underappreciated sparkplug and the 2005 AL batting champ. Following Tuesday night's ninth-inning heroics, he has another piece of hardware -- All-Star Game Most Valuable Player -- for his mantle.
"One of the best pure hitters in baseball," Guillen said. "I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league."
A few months from now, when the NL pennant winners are forced to start the World Series on the road once again, perhaps they will lament the run that left fielder Alfonso Soriano, the Washington Nationals' lone representative, gave away in the third inning.
Soriano, playing in his fifth straight all-star game, singled and stole second against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. But on Beltran's single to center -- and with Pujols on deck -- Soriano ran through a stop sign at third base and was thrown out easily at the plate by Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells, a costly mistake that derailed what otherwise might have been a big inning for the NL.
After Beltran scored on a wild pitch by Halladay, giving the NL a 2-1 lead, the pitchers took over. Four straight AL pitchers and six straight NL hurlers put up scoreless frames, until Hoffman coughed up the lead in the thrilling, decisive ninth.
"It went from being a ho-hum all-star game," Konerko said, "to one of the better ones that's been played in recent years."
With the AL now ahead, everyone knew what was coming next. Into the game came Mariano Rivera, arguably the greatest closer in history, and into the history books went another victory for the American League, still the dominators.