Mariano Rivera can even make some of the worst moments in sports look good. That's what he did in 2002, when he breezed through the National League All-Star team in the ninth inning of the All-Star Game, the game that would go down in infamy as the game that ended in a tie.

With the game tied at seven in the bottom of the ninth, Rivera was in a perilous position, as conceding a run would not only lead to a loss for the American League, but be the first earned run allowed by the Sandman in his All-Star Game career.

However, as he's done so many times in his career, Mo made quick work of his opposition, allowing only one base hit en route to a scoreless inning.

More notable than the scoreless inning, of course, was the context in which the scoreless inning occurred. Had Rivera not thrown a scoreless inning in that situation, it's likely that baseball fans would never have had to endure Bud Selig changing the rules of his sport to include the asinine statute that the All-Star game would determine home field advantage in the World Series.

Had Mariano Rivera not been so great at his craft, maybe we wouldn't have to hear the same dopey debate on every sports radio and television program across the country on an annual basis. Maybe the Texas Rangers would have hosted Game Seven of the 2011 World Series, rather than being forced to play it in St. Louis, all because someone from the Houston Astros helped win the All-Star game for the National League.

But, as always, Rivera was great, leading to another priceless moment in Major League Baseball history.

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