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By Root 770 0

by the public address announcer, he was greeted by the fans at Safeco with a standing ovation. This was a classy move on the part of the Seattle fans, considering how it was their guy, Bell, who Ripken’s supporters knocked out of the game with their late voting. As if to show his appreciation, Ripken connected with the very first pitch he saw from pitcher Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers—a waist-high fastball—and launched the ball over the left-center field fence. Just forty-five days shy of his forty-first birthday, he became the oldest player to hit an All-Star Game home run. The crowd, sensing that they had just witnessed a genuine moment of baseball history, naturally responded with a second standing ovation.

Emboldened by Ripken’s heroics, the American League squad added three more runs and went on to win the game, 4-1. The National League managed only three hits. Ripken, of course, was named the game’s MVP, the second time he had earned that honor.

In his postgame press conference, Torre called the home run “unbelievable.”

“It was great; it was something special,” added Yankees’ shortstop Derek Jeter, who also homered in the game.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa said. “It doesn’t get better than that as a human being.”

It was quite the storybook ending to Ripken’s All-Star career and the fawning national media ate it up, writing saccharine, overblown columns extolling Ripken’s importance, irrevocable virtue, and shining example to America’s youth. Here, the sports radio hosts opined, was a man we could believe in. Set our clocks by. Trust, even. The last of a dying breed. ESPN, never one to shy away from hyperbole, went as far as to rank Ripken’s homer the fifty-sixth most memorable sporting moment of the past twenty-five years, ranking it ahead of such indelible baseball moments as Luis Gonzalez’ World Series-winning base hit off of the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera later that same year and George Brett’s infamous pine tar home run.

But not everyone was buying it; especially those who had watched repeated replays of the home run. The moment was so perfect that some have had the audacity to question whether or not it was on the level. Park, some suggested, appeared to have grooved the pitch.

Could that be so?

EVIDENCE SUPPORING A CONSPIRATION

It’s important to note that none of those who have questioned the authenticity of Ripken’s final All-Star Game home run have implied that Ripken himself was in on the fix. He was far too proud and honorable a player (and man) to agree to such a thing. What the conspiracy theorists have suggested is that Park was instructed, whether by NL manager Bobby Valentine or by Commissioner Selig, to toss ole Cal a meatball.

Park, who was making his first (and only) All-Star appearance, didn’t exactly throw a meatball, though. A meatball traveling ninety-two miles per hour would likely disintegrate before reaching home plate. But what was questionable about Park’s delivery was the location of the pitch. Even an average Major League hitter can hit a poorly located pitch thrown at that velocity. And Park’s fastball not only came in to Ripken waist high, but right down the middle and without movement. It was straight as an arrow, and right in Ripken’s wheelhouse. All Ripken needed to do, the theorists conjectured, was make contact. Simple as that.

One reason why Selig or Valentine (or perhaps Park himself) may have decided to give Ripken such a nice parting gift is that in those days the outcome of the game meant very little. Since 2003, the winner of the All-Star Game has determined which league’s representative is awarded home field advantage in the World Series. In 2001, though, it was still just an exhibition. And since most of the gate receipts go to the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLPA) pension fund and not to the players (though their expenses are covered), it’s not like the participants are competing for much more than pride (individual contract bonuses notwithstanding).

As the first Korean-born player to play in an All-Star Game,