Ichiro's magic gives AL home field again

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's surprising that, while he was here, Ichiro Suzuki didn't solve this city's homeless problem, make the Bay Bridge congestion permanently disappear and close the BALCO case, too.

An All-Star MVP and a huge contract extension? You'd be a little giddy, too. (Getty Images)

My goodness, you could feel the large exhale all the way from Washington when word broke just before the 78th All-Star Game that Seattle's favorite imported son had all but signed a $100 million contract extension that will keep him a Mariner through 2012.

Then the guy goes 3-for-3 and leads the American League's latest trampling of the National League, this time 5-4, by belting the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history.

Ichiro always has had a flourish, from his slicing singles to his philosophical wanderings. The AL trailed 1-0 when he stepped up in the fifth, at which point everybody was waiting around to see how the NL would blow it this time. It hasn't won one of these Midseason Jamborees since the game was in Philadelphia during the Constitutional Convention.

OK, it only seems like that long ago. Actually, it was in 1996. And the NL is 0-10-1 since then.

And in a related story, the AL seized home-field World Series advantage for a fifth consecutive October.

"I don't know," Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee said. "I have no idea why. It's fluky. Eleven years.

"They've got a great team over there. They hit the ball out of the ballpark, and they had a little more offense than us tonight."

If something doesn't change soon, commissioner Bud Selig may want to take mercy on the NL and consider awarding the World Series home-field advantage to the winner of the Home Run Derby. Except, oh, the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero won that this year.

So ... how to get the NL home-field advantage in October. Hmmm. Winner of the Celebrity Softball Game, anyone?

"There are some things that are unexplained, and you can't put a finger on them," Phillies center fielder Aaron Rowand said.

As far as All-Star Games go, this one fell somewhere between a trip to the recycle center and a rerun of any of the past decade's worth of games. The only difference was that Giants fans thumbed their noses at the rest of the nation by wildly cheering Barry Bonds*. But, psst, you know ... flowers in their hair and all that.

Seriously, San Francisco mostly put on a memorable show, what with the pregame Willie Mays tribute, a knockout ballpark, terrific weather and lovely hospitality.