July 15, 2003: Baseball's All-Star Game Starts to "Count"

Hank Blalock

July 15, 2003: Major League Baseball holds its All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field -- formerly the new Comiskey Park, and now named Guaranteed Rate Field -- home of the Chicago White Sox. (UPDATE: In 2025, it was renamed simply "Rate Field.")

Due to the previous season's All-Star Game ending in a tie, MLB officials decided that, from this point on, the League winning the All-Star Game would get home-field advantage in the World Series, regardless of won-lost record, so that the game would be taken more seriously. Hence, the slogan "THIS TIME IT COUNTS," including in broadcast previews and on the outfield wall.

The starting pitchers were Esteban Loaiza of the host White Sox, and Jason Schmidt of the San Francisco Giants. The American League scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, to win, 7-6. With 1 out, Garret Anderson of the team then named the Anaheim Angels, doubles to right field. Melvin Mora of the Baltimore Orioles pinch-ran for him. After Carl Everett of the Boston Red Sox struck out, Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays doubled to center field, scoring Mora. And Hank Blalock of the Texas Rangers hit a home run to right-center.

The winning pitcher was Brendan Donnelly of the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, the defending World Champions. The losing pitcher was Éric Gagné of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In regular-season play, he successfully converted all 55 of his save opportunities that season, the middle of an 84-game stretch that lasted from August 26, 2002 to July 5, 2004. The 2003 All-Star Game was his only failure in that stretch, but, unlike the result, it didn't "count." Gagné was later exposed as a steroid user, rendering his record tainted. Tom Gordon of the Red Sox still holds the "real record," 54 straight, from April 19, 1998 to June 5, 1999.

In addition to Blalock, Anderson and Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees hit home runs for the AL; and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves and Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies hit them for the NL.

Previously, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated between the Leagues, regardless of record: The AL got it in odd-numbered years, the NL in even-numbered years, until the Strike of '94. From 1995 to 2002, it was the NL in odd-numbered years, and the AL in even-numbered years. But, starting in 2003, it went to the League that won the All-Star Game.

Only once did it make any difference: No World Series went to 7 games until 2011, when the St. Louis Cardinals, Champions of the All-Star Game-winning NL, beat the Rangers at home. It didn't happen again until 2014, and then, the road team won: The Giants over the Kansas City Royals. It happened again in 2016, and, again the road team won: The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians. In 2017, Commissioner Rob Manfred changed the rules again, this time giving the advantage to the League Champion with the better record.

Did that make a difference? In 2017, the AL won the All-Star Game, and its Champions, the Houston Astros, won the World Series, winning Game 7 at home. In 2019, the AL won, and the Astros again got the home-field advantage anyway. But, this time, they lost Game 7 at home, to the Washington Nationals.

UPDATE: In 2025, the NL won the All-Star Game, but the AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays had a better overall record than the NL Champion Dodgers. It ended up not mattering, because the Dodgers won Game 7 in Toronto.

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July 15, 2003 was a Tuesday, as most MLB All-Star Game days have been. As has also been the case for most such days, there were no other scores on the day.