MILWAUKEE -- There was no shortage of great theatre, that much is certain. Divine plot twists packed on top of each other, inning after inning, each trumping the previous one as the game unfurled endlessly into the balmy night. But for all the stories in the 73rd All-Star Game, they ended in a most improbable manner -- as non-stories.

When commissioner Bud Selig, AL manager Joe Torre and NL manager Bob Brenly decided to call the Midsummer Classic as a 7-7 tie, they wiped out dazzling drama, the best players on Earth having gracefully flashed leather and lumber for 11 thrilling innings. With both teams out of players and gassed pitchers on the mound, the contest was called to prevent injury. But in the process, three hours and 29 minutes of lights-out baseball were reduced to a confusing footnote -- two sevens and an asterisk -- in the baseball record book.

	Paul Konerko could have been the hero when his two-run double off Byung-Hyun Kim gave the AL a 6-5 lead.

"Obviously, in your wildest dreams, you would not have conceived that this game would end in a tie," said Selig. "But given the health of our players, I had no choice."

Bud's call will be hotly debated, but the saddest part is that the players put on a show they won't get any credit for. This was drama that would have made The Lifetime Channel proud; so good were the stories that this piece was written and rewritten about 47 times before the game limped to its feeble conclusion.

First, there was Jimmy Rollins, a leadoff hitter stuck at the NL's No. 8 spot, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and sparking the NL's early surge. Nice story -- worked for the first six innings. Then it was Byung-Hyun Kim, improbably blowing the second-biggest lead of his career, on the second-biggest stage in baseball, giving up two runs in one-third of an inning to allow to AL to take its first lead in the seventh.

That held until the NL got up in the bottom half. Then it was Damian Miller, Kim's teammate, hitting a double, and Lance Berkman erasing a meek Home Run Derby showing by driving in Miller and Mike Lowell with a go-ahead single. But then Omar Vizquel mucked that up by tripling in a run and tying the game in the eighth at 7. All that scoring -- and normally the last few frames are just for getting the guys from the Tigers and the Devil Rays some playing time.

Any of those tales would have made for fine reading over your morning latte. Any one of those players -- except Kim, of course -- could have been, and deserved to be, the game's MVP. (As it stands, there was no MVP.)

When winning mattered

Tuesday's game was the sixth-longest in history, but the lack of a winner means we won't have a hero to remember like the five previous games that lasted longer: 1967: NL 2, AL 1 (15 innings): Tony Perez's homer in the top of the 15th off Catfish Hunter -- who was in his fifth inning of work (and, yes, there were still three AL pitchers left unused) -- won it. Ten position players played the entire game, including Carl Yastrzemski, who had three hits and two walks. 1950: NL 4, AL 3 (14): Red Schoendienst homered off Ted Gray to win it, but that wasn't the only excitement in this game. In the first inning, Ted Williams fractured his elbow hauling in a Ralph Kiner (who tied it in the 9th with a homer) drive. Williams stayed in the game and later drove in a run, but had surgery two days later and missed the rest of the season. The injury would bother him the rest of his career. The Giants' Larry Jansen pitched five (!) shutout innings in relief. 1987: NL 2, AL 0 (13): Played in the twilight at the Oakland Coliseum, the teams combined for just 14 hits. Tim Raines' two-run triple was the winning blow. Lee Smith (a reliever!) pitched three innings to get the win. 1955: NL 6, AL 5 (12): The AL blew a 5-0 lead as Stan Musial's homer off Frank Sullivan in the bottom of 12th ended it in dramatic fashion. Sullivan was in his (gasp!) fourth inning of work. 1970: NL 5, AL 4 (12): Pete Rose scored the winning run in front of his home fans when he bowled over (!) Ray Fosse after Jim Hickman had singled with two outs. Rose's Charlie Hustle image cemented forever, Fosse's career was perhaps wrecked by a shoulder injury. -- ESPN.com

So while the players were uniform about their feelings on the cancellation -- everyone supported the decision exhaustively -- they also agreed that a classic had just been wiped out.

"I understand the fans were upset," Rollins said. "I would be too. But we were out of players -- it's not like I could get out there and pitch."

But ... "That was a sick game, wasn't it?" Rollins continued. "First the NL is rolling along, chillin', and then all of a sudden they're on top. Then people are scoring runs every inning. And then nobody can score a run to save their life. It was crazy."

Crazy is a good word. The best relievers in baseball -- Kim, Mike Remlinger, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Robb Nen -- futilely unable to hold a lead. Paul Konerko and Miller each blasting two doubles, tying the All-Star record. Barry Bonds robbed by Torii Hunter's epic grab in the first and getting his revenge in the third with a two-run bomb Hunter would've needed a helicopter to snare. Sammy Sosa collecting his first hit in 10 All-Star at-bats.

But who's gonna remember that in a year? Heck, who's gonna remember that in a week?

Even after the game became deadlocked and the pitching took over, there was still plenty of drama. Adam Dunn flying out to the warning track in deep center in the bottom of the 10th. Two batters later, Shawn Green singling and stealing second, getting into scoring position with hometown hero Jose Hernandez up against Freddy Garcia. With the fans cheering loudly, Hernandez topped a Garcia fastball to end the inning. Everyone smiled, content to enjoy the ride -- at this point, nobody knew the game's days were numbered.

"It was one of the best games I've ever been involved in, things going up and down and up and down," Dunn said. "It's too bad it had to end the way it did."

And even though the conclusion tasted like a mouthful of Dial to everyone involved, players made no apologies. Some even attempted cost analysis. "It was a blast, a great game," Berkman said. "And the fans got more than their money's worth. They only paid for nine innings, so they got two innings free."

Berkman has a point. And although this was hardly the way people wanted the game to end, things did need to be wrapped up. In the middle of the 11th, the announcement was made -- this would be the last inning. In the bottom of the 11th, with Mike Lowell on first and one out, the NL's hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of ... pitcher Vicente Padilla. And his .063 batting average.

Padilla, of course, whiffed, but the fired-up fans still managed to channel their vitriol into support for Benito Santiago -- the last chance for everyone to avoid kissing their sisters. Santiago made the last out of the game watching a curveball with two strikes. Fittingly, one of the most prolific All-Star contests in recent memory ended with everyone -- Santiago and 41,871 fans -- looking on helplessly. Not yet spent, the crowd managed to rain some debris down on the field, Dawg Pound-style.

But astute observers should have been ready. During the lengthy delay in the middle of the 11th, as Torre and Brenly conferred worriedly with Selig about their barren rosters, the Miller Park deejay dusted off an old favorite. It was "Buttercup" by The Foundations, and the fans, oblivious to the fate that was about to befall the game, sang along giddily:

"Why do you build me up? Buttercup, baby, just to let me down ..."

Andy Latack covers baseball for ESPN The Magzine.