To get an idea of the kind of offensive talent assembled by the American League for the 67th All-Star Game Tuesday night, check out who's batting eighth.
It's Baltimore outfielder Brady Anderson, who just happens to lead the majors with 30 home runs. And Anderson made the starting lineup only because Ken Griffey Jr., is injured."It says a lot about your lineup when you can have a guy who hit 30 homers hitting eighth for you," conceded AL manager Mike Hargrove.
In a season in which many offensive records are being threatened, it stands to reason that there will be some fireworks when many of the game's best hitters gather at Veterans Stadium. They say good pitching beats good hitting, but that theory could be in for a stern test.
"It's not going to be a low-scoring game," predicted Toronto slugger Joe Carter, one of the AL reserves. "One of the teams could get in double digits."
Actually, some of the more renowned offensive performers will be absent. On the AL side, Seattle's Griffey will sit out for the second straight year with a wrist injury. Perennial All-Star Kirby Puckett of Minnesota has been out all year with career-threatening vision problems, and Baltimore second baseman Roberto Alomar is a possible scratch with a finger injury.
"Any time you get voted in and somebody wants to see you play and you can't play, it's tough," said Griffey, who attended the workout to accept his award for getting the most AL votes in the fan balloting. "I tried to get in for two innings, but there are rules that you can't do that. I hoped to bat eighth and just run on the field."
The NL will be missing six-time batting champion Tony Gwynn of San Diego, who has an Achilles' tendon injury. And San Francisco slugger Matt Williams stayed home after being drilled on the arm by a pitch over the weekend.
Gwynn was replaced in the starting lineup with the New York Mets' Lance Johnson, which gave the NL a true centerfielder. Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones moved into the starting nine in place of Williams.
Nevertheless, there is plenty of talent to go around as the AL tries to end the NL's two-year winning streak. Asked to compare his All-Star lineup with his powerful Cleveland team, Hargrove was quite the diplomat.
"As far as having power throughout the lineup, it does mirror that," he said. "I like our lineup in Cleveland, but I could trade for this one real easy."
Hargrove named Indians right-hander Charles Nagy as the AL starter, while NL manager Bobby Cox also named one of his own, right-hander John Smoltz. Neither manager had to apologize for partisanship; Nagy is 11-2 and Smoltz is 14-4.
Hargrove considered starting Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte, the AL's leading winner with a 13-4 record. But Pettitte has had elbow tenderness of late, and Hargrove opted for Nagy after speaking with New York manager Joe Torre.
"Given that information, it wasn't a difficult decision to go with Charles Nagy," said Hargrove. "But probably the one overriding factor is, I've got to live in Cleveland. I felt they both deserved it, but Charlie was the guy I wanted to start the game. I felt Charlie deserved it."
Both starting pitchers have theirwork cut out for them. The heart of the AL lineup features Chicago's Frank Thomas and Cleveland's Albert Belle, who combined for 50 homers in the first half. The NL counters with the trio of San Francisco's Barry Bonds (23 homers), Atlanta's Fred McGriff and Los Angeles' Mike Piazza .
"Looking at their lineup, I was getting pretty nervous," said Nagy. "If I can get their one through six hitters out, or one through nine, that would be amazing. Houdini comes to mind."
In putting together its pitching staff, the AL opted for four starters and five closers. Should his team get a lead in the late going, Hargrove can choose among New York's John Wetteland, Chicago's Roberto Hernandez, Cleveland's Jose Mesa, California's Troy Percival and Kansas City's Jeff Montgomery.
"I haven't decided which order I'll use them," said Hargrove. "We picked it supposing we could get two innings apiece out of the starters."
"Then we can come out with power arms. All of the guys deserved to be in there. We'll get to the fifth inning and take it from there."