It was no contest. Todd Walker and Brian Raabe by far received the biggest ovations from the capacity crowd at Franklin Quest Field during the player introductions at the Triple-A All-Star Game Wednesday.
Of course, that much was to be expected from the understandably biased hometown fans.Coincidentally, the two Salt Lake Buzz infielders were almost the only players on their American League team who gave the 15,500 in attendance something to cheer about during the game, too.
But despite their efforts - Walker at the plate and Raabe in the field - the AL affiliates still lost to their National League counterparts by a lower-than-expected score of 2-1.
Though the second baseman only ended up going 1-for-4, Walker made the most of his one hit. The Twins' hot prospect ripped a line-drive home run just over the right-field fence in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the AL a 1-0 lead.
"It was a change-up on the outside of the plate," said Walker, who was selected as the Pacific Coast League All-Star MVP, describing his homer. "Luckily the wind carried it a little bit."
When a reporter asked what wind he was talking about considering the relatively calm evening air, Walker joked, "Well, mine, from my bat."
Walker's solo shot, which equaled the number he hit in his early exit at Tuesday's Home Run Contest, looked like it was going to be the only score of the game through seven innings.
Good pitching and solid defense - including some spectacular plays by Raabe - helped keep the score low in the hitter-friendly park.
Raabe's defense was especially impressive in a stretch during the sixth inning, with the score still 1-0, when he accounted for all three outs in the frame.
The two-time Triple-A All Star cleanly fielded a pair of routine grounders for the first two outs and then made the defensive play of the game to close out the inning. Ottawa Lynx outfielder Yamil Benitez smacked a grounder that appeared to be a sure hit up the middle, but Raabe dove to his left and was able to snag the ball in his glove. He then jumped to his feet and with a crisp throw gunned Benitez out at first.
"Coach (Phil Roof) said I set the oldest record in the book," mused Raabe about recording three outs in an inning. "The ball just happened to bounce in my glove."
In the seventh, Raabe made a hustling play to chase down and catch a foul ball near the bullpen.
The somewhat ironic part is that neither player was originally selected as a starter on the All-Star squad, yet both ended up playing the entire nine innings. Three factors figured into that scenario - a big and biased hometown crowd, an equally biased coach and several injuries to other middle infielders on the AL squad. The fact that Walker and Raabe are excellent players didn't hurt either.
"We were short on infielders and knowing the 15,000 fans we had, I would have been booed real bad if I would have pulled them," said Roof, coach of the AL squad and the Buzz. "Plus, they're as good as anyone we have on the roster. They both played well. They represented our ballclub very well."