Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 213

A Look At Where The Ree Sox, YankeesMets Stand Page C3 SPORTS 6 WWW.CTN0W.COM THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2002 THE HARTFORD COURANT SECTION nd Comes In Seventh By ROBERTO GONZALEZ COURANT STAFF WRITER NORWICH Unlike its major league counterpart, the Double A All-Star game did have an outcome thanks to Aaron Miles of the Birming uim i rn ALU NL2 ham Barons. Miles hit a two-run double to break a tie AL Puts It Away With 9-Run Rally Lew Ford had an RBI single, Jorge Se-quea of the Erie Sea Wolves hit a three-run homer off of Chris Spurting of the Altoona Curve and Dwayne Wise of the Tennessee Smokies followed with an in-side-the-park home run to cap the nine-run inning. Ford walked, stole a base, flied out and struck out Rock Cats closer Juan Padilla was the winningpitcher, striking out two in a a perfect seventh. Andy Phillips of the Norwich Navigators tripled and scored in the fourth to give the American League a 2-0 lead. Teammate Kevin Reese went l-for-3 with a single in the third.

New Haven Ravens left fielder Dee Haynes was hit by a pitch and popped to third. This is the last Double A All-Star Game, as each league will have its own next season. The Eastern League All-Star Game will be held at New Britain Stadium next year. Lefthander Brian Tallet started for the American League. Tallet is 10-1 with a 3.17 ERA for the Akron Aeros, who are first in the Eastern League South Division.

Tallet got into a jam with two out in the first Shortstop Freddy Sanchez of the PLEASE SEE AL, PAGE C5 in the seventh and lead the American League to an 11-2 victory over the National League Wednesday in front of a record standing room only crowd of 8,009 at Dodd Stadium. Miles hit his two-run double off Jack Krawcyzk of the Huntsville Stars, who started the seventh. Rock Cats catcher Jeff Smith hit a two-run triple, teammate BOB MACDONNELLTHE HARTFORD COURANT THE TRENTON THUNDER'S WILTON VERAS checks out the uniform of All-Star tea-mate Cliff Lee of the Akron Aeros at the Dodd Stadium in Norwich. BASEBALL'S 3" SO rp 1 he problems with Major League Baseball are well-documented, II j. i i i commuieu ro memory, ureeay owners greeay piayers rising salaries labor issues long games late starts steroids.

Who's right? Who's wrong? Who knows? ITEM s. Steroids 1 Everyone loves home runs. Fans. Players. Owners.

Home run hitters make more money. Home run hitters need to be strong. One way to get strong is to use steroids. If you listen to Jose Canseco, 85 percent of major league players use steroids. If you jf listen to USA Today, 79 percent of major league 1 players are willing to be tested in some form.

So what's holding them up? Who watched the No need to keep regurgitating what everyone has heard. Unless, of course, in the time it takes to break for the All-Star Game, every major problem seemingly has manifested itself in one way or another. Labor? The players meet Monday and while they don't set a strike date, we all know they will shortly. Steroids? The home run derby, part of Monday's festivities, serves as the perfect backdrop for wondering who's taking what Late starts? Tuesday's All-Star Game starts a bit after 9 p.m., just in time for people to start thinking about bed. Contraction? The Twins and Expos are getting the last laugh on that one, each a potential playoff team.

Long games? The final insult. How about an All-Star Game that couldn't end. Why? Not enough gazillionaires to finish, so it's declared a tie. Ted Williams? The guy was the twst damn hitter, period, i- yet no one is doing right by him after his death Friday. Can't get much worse than that.

made-for-TV home run derby Monday night without wondering who was on steroids and what their bodies would be like at the ripe old age of 45? ITEM Time For Bed? It Hasn't Started Yet! The All-Star Game starts a little after 9 p.m. Sure, it's summer and kids can stay up later, but who can stay awake well past midnight? Never mind the kids, adults can't A pregame show that lasts an hour forces the late start. TV doesn't care. But amazingly, with all that time, TV still screws it up. We don't see tributes to recently deceased Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile and legendary broadcaster Jack Buck because Fox needs to show commercials.

And, a tribute to Ted Williams abruptly shifts into, you guessed it, a commercial. ITEM Labor Issues Owners and players can't figure out how to divide billions of dollars. The players hold meetings a day before the game and, knowing that they don't want to totally alienate fans, do not set a strike date. But everyone, including union chief Donald Fehr, left, knows one is ITEM And the MVP Is Let's see. Ted Williams dies.

One kid wants to freeze him. The other says Ted always wanted his ashes scattered in the Florida Keys. Baseball wants to honor him and does so by naming the coming. The players believe a strike is their only weapon against the owners -implementing a salary cap after the World Series. Commissioner Bud a All-Star MVP Award in his name and inviting the Kid's kid, John Henry Williams, to the game.

He doesn't show because, let's face it, who wanted him there? Then there is no MVP because there is no winner in the game. Ted Williams, greatest hitter ever, Selig says Tuesday the next three to four weeks are "very crucial" if baseball hopes to avoid its ninth and no one can get that right. The guy can't rest in dignity and peace. ITEM i work stoppage in the last 30 years. Thanks for the insight, Bud.

An Ugly Tie If you were at the game, it cost you hundreds of dollars. If you were at home, it cost you hours of sleep. And what did we all get? A tie. Sure, it was a helluva game up to that point and it's an exhibition and you're not going to burn out players but come on. You don't end in a tie in a sport that has no ties.

You don't all of a sudden say, sorry, we have to go home now. You don't all of a sudden not have a backup plan, like baseball had ITEM Contraction Selig tried to get rid of the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos. The Twins lead the AL Central by Ti games and the Expos could get a wild card berth in the NL We knew all that before the game. After the game, we know how good Twins center fielder Torii Hunter is. He leaped high above the center field wall to take away a home run from the home run king, Barry Bonds, as if to say, "Bud, contract this!" ASSOCIATED PRESS A A never seen extra innings before.

Bring back Pete Rose and Ray Fosse. Maybe Rrreo ran cliHo intn clin 7 1 Did Baseball Make The Right Call At The All-Star Game? PointCounterpoint, Page C2..