He Wouldn’t Call It the Midslumber Classic

Dave Kindred in the Sporting News: “The good thing about the flawed system of fans voting for the All-Star baseball game is that it’s flawed.

“And controversy is good for baseball because it enriches the texture of events with a back story that is fodder for conversation during those moments of a game when nothing seems to be happening.

“Of course, the operative word in that last sentence is ‘seems’ because, as Red Smith once wrote: ‘Baseball is a dull game only for those with a dull mind.’ ”

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Trivia time: Which player has hit the most home runs in All-Star games?

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Eclectic gathering: Duke star Shane Battier was asked by Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald to name “three people you are inviting to your dream dinner party.” He answered:

“Jesus has to be there so I can hear what The Man Himself has to say. [Albert] Einstein so we can talk some relativity. And Genghis Khan so I can hang out with a true party animal.”

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Splat! Florida Marlin outfielder Cliff Floyd somehow avoided major injury when he ran full speed into the left-field wall at Pro Player Stadium while trying to catch a fly ball.

The next day, teammate Preston Wilson painted an outline of a body on the wall, as police would do at a murder scene. “Hey, the way he crashed, we didn’t know if he was going to make it back,” Wilson told ESPN.com. “I was just trying to do whatever I could to help the authorities.”

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Peaceful pen: Atlanta Brave pitcher Mike Remlinger to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on life in the Shea Stadium bullpen after the trade of John Rocker: “We were only called . . . twice instead of 10 times. It was borderline peaceful down there.”

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More on pens: Boston Red Sox reliever Rod Beck, after Manager Jimy Williams couldn’t reach the bullpen by phone: “We had the message machine on. It said, ‘Sorry, but we’re not available at the moment.’ ”

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Fascinating: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Now ABC geniuses have perfected a chip camera for the bottom of golf cups, so we can marvel at two fingers reaching in and fetching balls after sinking the putt. Gee, ain’t science wonderful?”

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics opened each game of a doubleheader with a home run to become the first player to accomplish the feat in 60 years.

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Trivia answer: Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, six.

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And finally: Michael Hiestand in USA Today: “Various U.S. cities angling for the 2012 Summer Games have sites, such as https://cincinnati2012.com--’Cincinnati is a city of beauty, culture,’ it reports. ‘And we have an Olympic-sized dream.’ ”

The late Jim Murray, who amused readers by trashing cities, would have had fun with this appraisal.