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For as long as it has been played, the All-Star Game pits the best of one league against the best of the other. The demigods, with their crisp uniforms and perfect swings, perform under the lights with a certain grace and aura that few can ever hope to match. Its the Midsummer Classic, after all.But, as of Friday, thats all about to change.Enter 43-year-old marvel Bartolo Colon.Mets and National League All-Star manager Terry Collins named Colon to the team in place of Madison Bumgarner, who will be unable to pitch during the game because of a scheduled start Sunday for the San Francisco Giants.A fan favorite with a complicated history, Colon brings a lighthearted appeal to an exhibition game that tries to be taken seriously.So heres why you should be thankful that the pitcher known affectionately as Big Sexy will take the field Tuesday night in San Diego:1. Everybody loves Bart Theres no one in baseball right now who surpasses Colon when it comes to unconditional love -- from players and fans alike. Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez told ESPN.coms Kevin Van Valkenburg, I think everybody just loves Big Sexy. From his helmets continuous struggle to stay glued on his head while hes swinging and running, to his joyful reactions, Colon brings the one attribute that an All-Star Game needs most: fun.2. His stats dont matter In an era when almost everything in baseball is boiled down to numbers, Colon transcends stats. Sure, his 3.28 ERA is solid, as is his 7-4 record. Plus, Colon really uses only one pitch: a fastball, which he hurls almost 88 percent of the time, according to Fangraphs. So the numbers dont add up. He shouldnt be good. But he is. And thats awesome.3. Hes a human highlight real A big part of Colons appeal is his carefree approach to the game. For example, most people, and nearly all pitchers, would stop and make a conventional throw after fielding a ground ball. Colon? Nope. He prefers to flip the ball to first behind his back.Or, he might make a Willie Mays-esque basket catch. Any comebacker will be an adventure.4. Hes a hit Madison Bumgarner is the best-hitting pitcher in baseball. But if theres any ballpark where Colon can make up for the difference from the man hes replacing on the roster, its San Diegos Petco Park, where he has slugged .800 over his career -- OK, he has had only five at-bats there, but still a pretty cool number. Plus, he did this there: As for the possibility he gets an at-bat during the game, Colon played it coy, telling reporters Friday, I pray to God it doesnt happen. A refreshingly humble star. Perfect.5. (All-) Stars -- theyre just like us! At 43, Colon is the oldest player in the majors this season. The soon-to-be four-time All-Star made his first appearance in the game way back in 1998, when he managed to get the win despite giving up three earned runs. So how is he able to excel nearly two decades later? One reason may be his stretching routine, which seems to have little basis in scientific evidence and pays special attention to his all-important core. If and when Collins calls Colon into the game, hell be the third-oldest pitcher ever to take the mound in an All-Star Game, according to ESPN Stats and Info.Wholesale Shoes Canada .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Shoes Canada From China . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. https://www.shoescanadaonline.com/ . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Shoes Canada Cheap . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Fake Shoes Canada 2020 . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes.CHICAGO -- Cody Allen, Andrew Miller and the Cleveland Indians crashed a Wrigley Field party 71 years in the making.Leave it to that sensational bullpen to silence the Chicago Cubs and their revved-up fans.Allen escaped a ninth-inning jam and the Indians set a major league record with their fifth shutout this postseason, holding off the Cubs 1-0 Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the World Series.As fun of a game as it was to be a part of, that was agonizing because we used so many guys, Indians manager Terry Francona said.Pinch-hitter Coco Crisp delivered an RBI single in the seventh off Carl Edwards Jr. And that was all Cleveland needed to win the first Series game at Wrigley since 1945.The crowd began forming beyond the ivy-covered walls in the early morning, all pumped for the big day. And fans, some who paid thousands of dollars to pack the seats and nearby rooftops, were roaring after a two-out error by first baseman Mike Napoli helped Chicago put runners on second and third in the ninth.Allen quieted the neighborhood ballpark, striking out co-NL Championship Series MVP Javier Baez to end it.We know were going to have our hands full to beat these guys, and tonight was a good example, Francona said. I mean, that was as close a ballgame as youre ever going to find, and we found a way to manage to win that game.Indians starter Josh Tomlin went 4 2/3 innings with his dad Jerry watching from the stands in a wheelchair just two months after circulatory malformation left him paralyzed from the chest down. Miller, Bryan Shaw and Allen took over.The Cubs have been blanked four times in the last eight games this postseason. Their first 1-0 loss in the World Series since Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox beat them in 1918 came on a night when the wind was blowing out.I actually told Miller we were going to win 1-0 tonight, Napoli said. Everything you saw on the TV was the wind was blowing out and theres going to be a bunch of runs scored. ... I turned to him and was like, `Were going to win 1-0 tonight.Cleveland now has a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead with ace Corey Kluber starting Game 4 on short rest Saturday and coming off a dominant performance in the opener. John Lackey pitches for Chicago.Not since they dropped Game 7 against Detroit in 1945 had the Cubs hosted a World Series game. The last time they won one? That was two days earlier when they beat the Tigers in 12 innings.Decades of disappointment and curses gave way to a major league-leading 103 wins and hope for the Cubs that their first championship since 1908 is on the way.But just as they did against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, they will have to rally from a 2-1 deficit if they are finally going to win it all.We have seen good pitching, manager Joe Maddon said. The one component of our team thats going to blossom over the next couple years is the offensive side. I think what youre seeing on defense and arm strengths and baserunning abilities, thats going to be pretty much static. But the part thats going to keep getting better is what were doing at the plate. So this is a great experience for us.Miller got the final out for Tomlin in the fifth, stranding a runner at second. The ALCS MVP then struck out Dexter Fowler, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo in the sixth.Shaw worked the seventh aand exited after Fowler singled with two out in the eighth.dddddddddddd. Allen fanned Bryant to end the inning.Rizzo opened the ninth with a single and took second on a one-out grounder. Jason Heyward followed with a grounder that Napoli misplayed, but at least the big guy kept the ball in front of him and kept the tying run from scoring.Heyward stole second without a throw before Allen fanned Baez for this sixth save this postseason.Two more wins and the Indians will claim the first championship since 1948. The Cubs still need three more for the first crown in 108 years.Its just good chemistry over here and our guys kept their poise, Crisp said. Our pitching did a great job, their pitching did a great job over there and thats what type of series this is going to be, it seems like.It was quite a scene in and around the ballpark, one generations of long-suffering Cubs fans had never witnessed.They started flooding the streets surrounding Wrigley hours before the gates opened. By mid-afternoon, the blocks outside the 102-year-old ballpark were a sea of blue.Fans carried W signs and took selfies near the famed marquee and statues of the late Harry Caray, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, cherished figures in Cubs lore who would have loved nothing more than to be part of this.There were red roses near the feet of all three. There were also four green apples on Carays statue -- three on top of the base and one in his left hand -- in a fitting tribute. After all, the famed broadcaster promised after the final game in 1991: Sure as God made green apples, someday, the Chicago Cubs are going to be in the World Series -- and maybe sooner than we think.But this just wasnt Chicagos night.The Cubs Kyle Hendricks, dominant in the clinching NLCS victory over Los Angeles, exited with the bases loaded in the fifth after he hit Chicago-area product Jason Kipnis.Justin Grimm then got Francisco Lindor to ground into 4-6-3 double play and gave a huge pump of the right fist as the crowd roared.LINING UPFrancona took a risk and had Carlos Santana start in left field with no designated hitter because he wanted to keep the switch-hitting slugger in the lineup.Santana has played catcher, third and first base in his career. But he had only played one other time in left -- and that was for four innings in 2012.This made Santana the first player since 1931 to get his first career start at a position in a World Series game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.MURRAY ON THE MICActor and comedian Bill Murray led the crowd in a rousing version of Take Me Out To The Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch.Murray, a huge Cubs fan, reminded the crowd of 41,703 that it was the last chance to buy beer, and then said they were there to win games rather than drink. He then sang Take Me Out To The Ball Game as the cartoon character Daffy Duck.UP NEXTIndians: Kluber (3-1, 0.74 ERA) will be working on three days rest after pitching the Indians to a 6-0 win in Game 1. The 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner has thrown scoreless ball in three of his four starts this postseason.Cubs: Lackey (0-0, 5.63) has not pitched since Game 4 of the NLCS and will be going on nine days rest. ' ' '