Tony DeMarco

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The throng of cameras and voice recorders laid in wait, perhaps 200 strong, packed into a dank corridor running between the clubhouses on the lowest level of Angel Stadium.

As the horde readied to spring into post-game interview mode, the pitcher who surrendered the game-deciding hit in Tuesday's 81st All-Star Game anonymously walked right by — a 6-6 man wearing a suit and an open-collared dress shirt.

Nobody seemed to know it was Matt Thornton.

A while earlier, it was the White Sox's setup man — the seventh American League pitcher used by the seventh inning — who allowed a three-run double to National League backup catcher Brian McCann, whom you could make the argument shouldn't even have been on the roster (check Miguel Olivo's first-half numbers, in case you're wondering why).

This is not to disparage Thornton, a member of the last United States' World Baseball Classic roster, or McCann, who was making his fifth All-Star appearance. There is a bigger point to be made here.

If we're finally buying into commissioner Bud Selig's notion that home field advantage in the World Series is something to be decided in an All-Star Game, then why not go all the way, and really play this thing like it counts?

Wouldn't it be nice to see an All-Star Game as it used to be played — back when the National League dominated it — when starting pitchers would throw three or four innings, were followed by a couple of other elite starters for two innings apiece, and superstars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente played the entire game even though nothing but pride was at stake?

Now that would be a game to which you could attach significant meaning and feel that home-field advantage in the World Series truly was earned.

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Instead, managers find themselves stuck in the middle — managing to win, but doing so while making spring-training-like lineup and pitching changes to get as many All-Stars as possible into the game, and leaving themselves in vulnerable roster situations that never would occur otherwise.

Put it this way: If you're really managing to win, does Albert Pujols get lifted after two at-bats? Does Cliff Lee's night consist of only six pitches, or Andy Pettitte's only nine pitches?

Either call it an exhibition game again, or play it like a real one; just don't try to sell this mish-mash combination as something it isn't.

Now let's make this clear; there's no questioning the players' intensity. We had to do that in the not-too-distant past, when once leaving the game, many took limos to private planes and were long gone before the final pitch.

This time, David Ortiz talked a little pre-game trash, Ichiro gave his now-traditional pre-game speech, and late in a 3-1 NL victory, dugouts full of players leaned on the railings, glued to the action.

AL starting pitcher David Price hit 100 mph on the radar gun, and said afterward about the night's pitching dominance, “I thought 1-0 (the AL's lead until the seventh) might hold up.''

And when talking about his failed opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, Torii Hunter said, “I was swinging so hard, it was unbelievable. I was too anxious.''

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But there was AL manager Joe Girardi in the post-game media briefing, having to explain why Alex Rodriguez remained on the bench despite being healthy and ready to play.

Meanwhile, NL manager Charlie Manuel tried to play the match-up game in the fifth inning, but with Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Tim Lincecum and Chris Carpenter sitting in the bullpen, turned to Hong-Chih Kuo.

In case you don't know, Kuo is the Dodgers' left-handed setup man who was added to the roster on Sunday, only after Billy Wagner turned down the invitation and decided to spend the three-day break with his family.

You saw the result: Kuo issued a walk to the right-handed hitter he faced (Evan Longoria), then threw away a bunt for an error that set up the only AL run on a sacrifice fly by Robinson Cano.

Selig staunchly defended his World Series home-field advantage idea earlier on Tuesday in a question-and-answer session with members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. And to a degree, the game is better and more intense, so the concept won't be halted.

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There also seems to be a general acceptance among players of the status quo. Price threw his two innings, and when asked afterward if he would have liked to throw four, or see that old-school All-Star Game return, his response was telling.

“Then you wouldn't have as many players get into the game,'' Price said. “It's fun to watch all these guys play. These are the best players from all the teams. If you're replaced, the team isn't going to miss a beat.''

Maybe yes, maybe no. But keeping superstar hitters and elite starting pitchers in the game longer would remove most every integrity-testing situation that keeps arising.

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