1999 B All-Star Game

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1 Bench's Bomb Leads Bambinos to Victory; Earns Game MVP
2 Game Boxscore
3 Bambino Division All-Stars
4 Big Train Division All-Stars

Bench's Bomb Leads Bambinos to Victory; Earns Game MVP

December 12, 2000 (Turner Field)- The game started off with a bang, literally. As Cy Young worked his fingers and hands across the ball, getting it ready for the opening pitch, Joe DiMaggio stepped up to the plate. Just two pitches later, Mr. Young was working his hands on a new ball, the old one was now resting in a lucky fan's glove, roughly 425 feet away. This is how the second annual Let's Play 2 All-Star Game started. But the fireworks were just beginning. In their half of the first, the Bambino's down 1-0, were up to the task, even if it meant facing Pedro Martinez. After a leadoff double by Ty Cobb, a costly error by Ernie Banks and an RBI single by Ted Williams, the tables were about to turn. With the game now nodded at 1 a piece, the Bambino's All-Star starting catcher stepped to the plate. Never mind the fact that he is arguably one of the best catcher's of all time, an almost unanimous vote to be the starting catcher of the LP2 AS Game, or even that he is a HOF'er. Does any of this matter? No. All that matters is what happens right now, at this moment. Bambino vs Big Train, catcher vs pitcher, Bench vs Pedro. With 2 runners on, the game tied at 1-1, and a 2-1 count, Johnny Bench got what he wanted; a Pedro fastball low and inside. Just seconds later, as the sound of the ball hitting the Louisville sweet spot echoed through Turner Field, Bench was trotting around the bases. Bench's 3-run shot put the Bambinos up 4-1, a lead they would never relinquish. Although it was just the first inning, Pedro was obviously rattled. He then walked Honus Wagner and surrendered a frozen rope to Scott Rolen, before getting Cal Ripken Jr. to swing at a pitch in the dirt, thus ending the inning and Pedro's second LP2 All-Star appearance.

While the Big Train representatives scored single runs in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 8th innings, one on a pinch-hit RBI triple by Jason Kendall, another on a sac-fly by Vlad Guerrero, it just wasn't enough. In addition to the 3-run poke by Bench, Mark McGwire and Scott Rolen also homered for the Bambinos. But it wasn't just the hitting that lead the Bams to victory, they had solid pitching as well. Derek Lowe, Bob Gibson, John Wetteland, Denny Neagle, Kevin Millwood, Jamie Moyer, Billy Wagner, Keith Foulke, Lefty Grove and Armando Benitez combined to throw 6 innings of 6 hit ball, allowing only 2 runs, one unearned. "We pitched well," said Derek Lowe, who earned the victory, "I'm glad we got to even the series at one a piece. Win or lose, it's still a honor to play in this game." In the loss, Joe D went 3-5, Lou Gehrig 3-4, and Kevin Brown and Alan Levine each pitched a perfect inning. "We had fun," said Brown, "we would have liked to win, but this is one of the few times that it doesn't hurt to lose." As the players were signing autographs after the game, you could hear Ernie Banks yelling, "Let's Play 2!"

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Game Boxscore

Series 1 12/7/2000 -- Game 1 of 1,  Chapman Park (Turner)

                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
99 All-Stars         1  1  1  1  0  0  0  1  0     5 11  1     7  0
99 All-Stars         4  0  1  0  1  0  0  2  x     8 10  2     7  1

All-Stars      AB  R  H BI   AVG       All-Stars      AB  R  H BI   AVG
DiMaggio    rf  5  1  3  1  .600       Cobb        cf  4  1  1  0  .250       
Lieberthal  c   3  0  0  0  .000       Hornsby     2b  4  1  1  0  .250       
 Rodriguez  ph  2  0  0  0  .000        Castillo   2b  1  0  0  1  .000       
Gehrig      1b  4  1  3  0  .750       Ruth        rf  4  0  0  0  .000       
 Giambi     1b  1  0  0  0  .000        Gonzalez   ph  1  0  0  0  .000       
Mays        cf  4  0  0  0  .000       McGwire     1b  3  1  1  1  .333       
Aaron       lf  3  0  0  0  .000        Robinson   ph  0  0  0  0  .000       
 Sosa       ph  1  1  1  0 1.000        Casey      1b  0  0  0  0  .000       
Williams    3b  4  0  0  0  .000       Williams    lf  4  1  3  1  .750       
Banks       ss  3  2  1  0  .333        Green      lf  0  0  0  0  .000       
 Guerrero,V ph  0  0  0  1  .000       Bench       c   4  1  1  3  .250       
 Schmidt    ss  0  0  0  0  .000        Nilsson    c   0  0  0  0  .000       
Reese       2b  4  0  1  0  .250       Wagner      ss  2  0  0  0  .000       
Martinez,P  p   0  0  0  0  .000        Garciap'ra ph  1  0  0  0  .000       
 Kendall    ph  1  0  1  1 1.000       Rolen       3b  3  1  2  1  .667       
 Carlton    p   0  0  0  0  .000        Ripken     3b  0  1  0  0  .000       
 Greenberg  ph  1  0  1  0 1.000       Cy          p   2  0  0  0  .000       
 Johnson    p   0  0  0  0  .000        Lowe       p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Levine     p   0  0  0  0  .000        Gibson     p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Brown      p   0  0  0  0  .000        Wetteland  p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Jeter      ph  1  0  0  0  .000        RodriguezA ph  1  0  0  0  .000       
 Lloyd      p   0  0  0  0  .000        Neagle     p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Shuey      p   0  0  0  0  .000        Millwood   p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Mathewson  p   0  0  0  0  .000        Moyer      p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Koufax     p   0  0  0  0  .000        Ramirez,M  ph  1  1  1  1 1.000       
 Everett    ph  1  0  0  0  .000        Wagner     p   0  0  0  0  .000       
               38  5 11  3              Foulke     p   0  0  0  0  .000       
                                        Grove      p   0  0  0  0  .000       
                                        Benitez    p   0  0  0  0  .000       
                                                      35  8 10  8

All-Stars            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Martinez,P L  0-1    1.0  4  4  0  1  1  52  32  0.00
Carlton              2.0  2  1  1  1  2  34  19  4.50
Johnson              1.0  2  1  1  0  1  21  13  9.00
Levine               1.0  0  0  0  0  0  10   8  0.00
Brown                1.0  0  0  0  0  0   4   3  0.00
Lloyd                0.1  1  0  0  1  1  12   5  0.00
Shuey                0.2  0  1  1  1  1   9   4 13.50
Mathewson            0.2  1  1  1  0  0  12   8 13.50
Koufax               0.1  0  0  0  0  1   3   3  0.00
                     8.0 10  8  4  4  7 157  95

All-Stars            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Cy                   3.0  5  3  2  0  1  28  21  6.00
Lowe       W  1-0    1.2  2  1  0  0  0  25  16  0.00
Gibson               1.0  0  0  0  0  2  13   8  0.00
Wetteland            0.1  0  0  0  0  0   2   2  0.00
Neagle               0.2  2  0  0  0  1  12  10  0.00
Millwood             0.2  1  1  1  0  1   6   5 13.50
Moyer                0.2  0  0  0  0  0   5   4  0.00
Wagner               0.1  0  0  0  0  1   3   3  0.00
Foulke               0.0  1  0  0  0  0   5   3  0.00
Grove                0.1  0  0  0  0  0   5   3  0.00
Benitez    S  1      0.1  0  0  0  0  0   5   3  0.00
                     9.0 11  5  3  0  6 109  78

BIG: Kendall batted for Martinez,P in the 2nd
     Greenberg batted for Carlton in the 4th
     Jeter batted for Brown in the 7th
     Rodriguez batted for Lieberthal in the 7th
     Rodriguez moved to c  in the 7th
     Sosa batted for Aaron in the 8th
     Guerrero,V batted for Banks in the 8th
     Sosa moved to lf in the 8th
     Giambi inserted at 1b in the 8th
     Schmidt inserted at ss in the 8th
     Everett batted for Koufax in the 9th
BAM: RodriguezA batted for Wetteland in the 6th
     Robinson batted for McGwire in the 7th
     Garciap'ra batted for Wagner in the 7th
     Ripken inserted at 3b in the 8th
     Castillo inserted at 2b in the 8th
     Casey inserted at 1b in the 8th
     Garciap'ra moved to ss in the 8th
     Ramirez,M batted for Moyer in the 8th
     Gonzalez batted for Ruth in the 8th
     Gonzalez moved to rf in the 9th
     Green inserted at lf in the 9th
     Nilsson inserted at c  in the 9th

E-Banks, Hornsby, Wagner. 2B-Banks, Cobb. 3B-DiMaggio, Gehrig, Kendall, Sosa, 
Ramirez,M. HR-DiMaggio(1), McGwire(1), Bench(1), Rolen(1). K-Mays, Aaron, 
Williams, Banks, Jeter, Everett, Ruth 3, McGwire, Bench, Cy, Gonzalez. 
BB-Cobb, Wagner, Robinson, Ripken. SF-Guerrero,V. WP-Lowe. 
GWRBI: Bench     
Temperature: 43, Sky: clear, Wind: none.
Series 1 12/7/2000 -- Game 1 of 1,  Chapman Park (Turner)

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