European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 the stars and stripes thursday july 14,1988 59th All Star game Sandman chalks up another win by Hal Bock Cincinnati a Down go the batters. Down go the to ratings. Boring baseball makes for bad prime time entertain ment and the All Star game is fast becoming a distinctly Ordinary event instead of the showcase it ought to be. At least the show got on and off quickly this time. A year ago squinting through the California twi Light the All stars did not score a run for 12 innings and All Over America people clicked off their television sets. This time equipped with traditional night baseball conditions they scored Early if not often and finished the Al s 2-1 Victory in 2 hours 26 minutes the fastest they be played this game since 1976. Madison Avenue now awaits the ratings report with trepidation. The do not disturb sign barely budged in this snoozer. If you were looking for excitement you d get More watching the Corner traffic Light change from Green to red and Back to Green. Grass grows with More zest than this game had. The All Star game was built on drama on ninth inning game winning Home runs by Guys like Ted Wil Liams on 14th-inning Home runs by Guys  schoendienst on Home plate collisions to score the winning run by Guys like Pete Rose. But the last few gatherings of what Are advertised As baseball s Best players have packed All the Wallop of a flyweight fight. Commentary the All stars have scored a total of 10 runs in the last three games. That s 10 runs by both teams five apiece. In the last four games there have been just three Home runs. The last no homers came in 1984. That s a Long time for a league to go without an All Star Homer. The no once so dominant in this series has Man aged to score in three of its last 31 All Star innings. Its sleep walking sluggers managed exactly six singles tuesday night and two of those never made it out of the infield. It was Only the eighth time an All Star team did not have at least one extra base hit. The Al accomplished the same dubious distinction in 1985. It seemed perfectly appropriate then for the All Star map to be Oakland s almost Anonymous Terry Stein Bach who earned his spot on the Al team because if you Don t have a Catcher it s Tough to play baseball. The All Star game seems to be deteriorating into something less than baseball though. It is becoming a Parade of pitchers dominating the hitters. It s Tough for a Batter when they Don t get to see a Pitcher More than once Al starter Frank Viola said. It really gives the pitchers a distinct  Al manager Tom Kelly agreed. If a Guy can get a couple of looks at a Pitcher it would be different he said. Except for Rickey Henderson Paul Molitor and Wade Boggs each of whom had two swings at no starter Dwight Gooden no Bat or in this game saw the same Pitcher twice. Real baseball in t played that Way. Real baseball in t a race to get every player on the Bench into the game. That tactic diminishes strategy and turns scorecards into mazes. The Pitcher merry go round May be a tribute though to Steinbach who came into the game equipped with a .217 batting average after spending half the season on the disabled list because of an Eye injury. For his first All Star at Bat Steinbach faced Good in s fast Ball and he hit the second one he saw just Over the right Field Fence bouncing it off Darryl Strawberry s Glove for a Home run. In his second swing an inning later Steinbach had to Deal with Bob Knepper who throws three speeds slow slower and slowest. The Oakland Catcher made the adjustment and delivered a sacrifice Fly for the other Al run. Two Bis. That made him a cinch map Winner in what has evolved into a game that searches desperately for a hero. Quick. Lower the Mound. Reduce the strike zone. Somebody has to put some oomph Back in this game before it evaporates from boredom. And if you doubt just How bad things have become you might consider map Steinbach s Bat which is headed for the Hall of Fame s All Star display. He s so Well known that the manufacturers mis spelled his name. All Star from Page 17 Vince Coleman dives Back to first ahead of tag by a s Mark Mcgwire in fourth inning. Coleman went on to score the no s Only run. Trotted Home on Gubicza s wild pitch. Gubicza s eight wild pitches this season Are the most on either team. Andre Dawson and Darryl Strawberry followed with infield singles but Gubicza avoided further trouble by getting Bobby Bonilla on a Fly Ball and will Clark on a grounder. After that the pitchers dominated. Gubicza settled Down for a perfect fifth and Dave Stieb gave up Sandberg s single in the sixth but got Strawberry on a Fly Ball to end the inning and leave Sandberg at second. Gary Carter hit a two out single in the seventh against Jeff Russell of Texas and Sabo sent in to run for Carter stole second. Rafael Palmeiro walked and Andy Van Slyke followed with a hard grounder that Mattingly stopped with a dive to his right. He recovered and threw to shortstop Cal Ripken for an inning ending Force out. The no pitchers had Little trouble after Steinbach s heroics. David Cone and Kevin Gross each worked a perfect inning for the no before Tim Laudner who replaced Steinbach doubled in the seventh off Mark Davis. Pittsburgh s Bob walk relieved and retired Carney Lansford on a grounder stranding Laudner. Herzog shrugs off record 3rd All Star defeat by Joe Kay Cincinnati a the third time held Little Charm for St. Louis cardinals manager Whitey Herzog. Herzog became the first National league All Star manager to lose three games when american league pitchers Al Lowed the no Only five hits in a 2-1 Victory tuesday night. The Al has won just three of the last 17 All Star games All against Herzog Man aged teams. Herzog accepted Ignominy gracefully. I d like to have won Don t get me wrong. You always want to win Herzog said. But i Don t think it s any big  Herzog s 1983 adj Star team lost 13-3 i Chicago s Comiskey Park and his 1986 squad was beaten 3-2 in the Houston Astrodome. Six managers have lost three or More All Star games but no no manager had suffered three defeats until tuesday. The reasons were familiar and dismay ing for Herzog who has watched his Cardi nals struggle this season on  be managed three All Star games and they be scored six runs in those three Herzog said. It kind of reminds me of my present  fact the National league s Only run was manufactured cardinals style in the fourth inning. St. Louis outfielder Vince Coleman singled stole second took third on Catcher Terry Steinbach s throwing error and scored on a wild pitch by mar Gubicza. Otherwise it was a familiar scene for herz9g his hitters throttled by Good pitching and Good Glove work. The Cardi nals Are one of the weakest offensive team sin the league and Are last in Home runs. The no had its Best scoring Opportunity late i the game snuffed out in the seventh when new York Yankees first baseman on Mattingly made an outstanding grab of Andy Van Slyke s grounder and got an inning ending Force at second base Fin Ishing off a two on two out  was very Good pitching on both sides. It was very impressive i thought Herzog said. One clutch defensive play by Mattingly kept us from tying  is the Best defensive first baseman m the american league. Remade a great play Van Slyke said. Elrose plays for Don Mattingly seem to be routine when i look at the highlight  was another similarity for Herzog. Starting Pitcher Dwight Gooden ended up taking the loss his second in As Many starts in All Star games. He was also the starter and loser in 1986. He struggled in the third inning tuesday night giving up a Lead off Homer to Stein Bach that barely eluded the Glove of out fielder Darryl Strawberry then allowed an other single and committed a balk before his stint was Over. Although the outcome was the same Gooden said he enjoyed this game More than his 1986  was More nervous then. This was More fun Gooden said. I was having Good time out there. I Only wish i could have pitched