The 2002 All-Star Game started out as one of the most celebrated, but ended unexpectedly as one of the most disappointing. Alleged steroid abuse and an impending strike over revenue sharing threatened to distance more fans from the game. Furthermore, baseball had lost one of its greatest players the week before as The Splendid splinter, Ted Williams died at the age of 83. The 2002 Midsummer Classic which was played on July 9, 2002 at Miller Park in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The opening ceremonies were very impressive as baseball highlighted thirty of its greatest moments and featured several of its greatest living participants. Never before had such an elite gathering of new and old talent been brought together on the same field at the same time. Legends of the game including Warren Spanh, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays shared the spotlight with future Hall of famers like Cal Ripken, Jr. and Barry Bonds. The stage was set for a wonderful exhibition as baseball’s best took the field.

The 73rd Midsummer Classic was the first played in Miller Park, the second to end in a tie, the tenth to go into extra innings, nine of which were won by the National League making them 9-0-1 to date, and the first to use sixty players. The Midsummer Classic had everything, great pitching, excellent fielding, powerful hitting and phenomenal response from the fans. However, the game ended in a 7-7 tie after eleven innings when both teams ran out of pitchers. With two outs in the first, Barry Bonds launched a long drive to deep right-center field. Torii Hunter glided into the gap, timed his leap and reached far over the fence [his elbow was well above the eight-foot wall] to pull the ball back into the park. Bonds, who had five-hundred ninety-four career home runs and the fans, could hardly believe that he’d been robbed of another shot. Lance Berkman, leading the majors with twenty-nine home runs and eighty-one runs batted in, hit a two-out, two-run single off Kazuhiro Sasaki in the seventh inning that rallied the National League to a 7-6 lead. The Houston outfielder delivered after Byung-Hyun Kim blew a lead in the top half. But Omar Vizquel, making a rare appearance at second base because the American League had five shortstops on its roster, made it seven-all with a RBI triple in the eighth off Giants closer Robb Nen. After two extra innings the game was called at a tie. Commissioner Bud Selig was left with little option and made the ultimate decision to call the game. There was no Most Valuable Player picked.