The National League All-Star team trailed by two runs heading into the bottom of the eighth inning last July in Minnesota. The leadoff hitter for the American League would be Jose Abreu, a slugger for the Chicago White Sox. N.L. Manager Mike Matheny summoned Tony Watson, a reliever who throws left-handed, to face Abreu, who bats right-handed.
Watson, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, retired Abreu on a fly ball to left. But the move made little sense in baseball terms, if the goal of the All-Star Game is really to win and secure home-field advantage in the World Series for the victorious league.