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Starting 9: Nine positions, nine storiesThere are days when the important sports events pile up. Sometimes I stare at the metaphorical mountain and feel lost. What stories are most important? What slice of the sports world am I leaving on the cutting room floor? Then I looked at my TV screen and saw the box score of the MLB All-Star Game. Nine’s a good number. Nine big stories is enough, right? Let’s pick a Wednesday starting nine: 1: SP — All-Star Game
We’ll start back in Philadelphia in honor of our theme. The American League ran away with what ended up being a ho-hum event, a 4-0 win that saw the AL score three in the first inning off Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez.
No home run swing-off this year. The pitching was top-notch, though the injury to Rays star Junior Caminero is worrisome. I hope everyone got cheesesteaks afterward.
The main worry hanging over the event: It may have been an awkward goodbye as the league braces for a work stoppage.






