The All-Star Week that Was

by Michael Riehn

It felt like May.  Beautiful weather, punctuated by thunderstorms and the occasional rain, it was not like most July weekends in St. Louis.  The All-Star Game and it’s festivities cast a national spotlight on St. Louis, and the city was up to the challenge.  I was fortunate to be a part of these memorable days, and had a fantastic time with family and friends.

On Friday, I met up with my wife and son at the America Center for the All-Star Game Fanfest.  When we walked up to the building, we were greeted cheerily by fanfest employees and ushered into an area with a giant ball signed by Hall of Famers and All-Stars.  You were immediately impressed with the enormity of the event and the inundation of advertising.  There were booths everywhere to play games, view amazing artifacts or win/buy memorabilia.  We only spent one afternoon at the event, but could have stayed for much more.

My son ran in the Reebok Fan Race and took part in the Run/Hit/ Field clinic.  In between these events, we walked around viewing the amazing artifacts and played games that he would enjoy.  The lines were long at many of the booths but they were worth the wait.  They had a “how to fill out a scorecard” training, which my son was mesmerized by (They were acting out each play) and memorabilia from Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial and Lou Gerhig.  My son and I were even interviewed by Channel 5 News during our visit to the Cooperstown collection (Which was on TV Friday and Saturday) and I might have even strung 3-4 coherent words together while the camera was on.

On Sunday, my Dad and I went to the Future’s Game and sat through a 3 and a half hour rain delay with fellow blogger Matt Wilson (and his family).  The stadium was virtually empty by the time the game started (maybe 10,000 fans), but the game was a good one.  Darryl Jones was 1 for 2 and Brett Wallace made a great play at third and had 2 walks (and two great at bats).  Francisco Samuel was a little shaky in his 1/3 of an inning of work and couldn’t find the strikezone, but overall the Cardinal kids did well (The World Team won).

We also stayed for an inning of the celebrity versus legends softball game.  I was impressed with Nelly.  He had a diving catch and a home run in the first inning.  Ozzie Smith was great as usual, making a diving catch at shortstop and looking like he could still be an everyday shortstop.  It was cool seeing local celebrities like Nelly, Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Hamm (if you havn’t seen the great AMC series MadMen, you are missing out) and Jenna Fischer.  The Mike and Mike team did their part to entertain and did a nice job emceeing the event.

On Monday, my Dad and I went to the Home Run Derby.  David Cook (from American Idol Fame) led off the night with a couple of songs, but the pregame festivities belonged to Pujols.  He was given rousing ovations and was the star of the stars.

The best part of the night was seeing Pujols hit 2 home runs with only 1 out to go to make it into the second round.  He didn’t have a great night, but I will always remember how the crowd got behind him and he came through.  You can tell that he’s searching a little bit for his swing right now, but Albert on his worst day is still a machine.

Prince Fielder was deserving of the win.  He was hitting moon shots, with one of them traveling over 500 feet to the right field bleachers.  The ball landed in the area where I have my season tickets (second to last row of the right field bleachers).  I have always wondered how far it would take to get a ball to our seats, and was amazed that someone could actually hit it that distance  The derby wasn’t as exciting as last year’s event, but it was fun atmosphere nonetheless.

Last night was the main event and was worthy of my high expectations.  The pre-game All-Star game festivities was worth the price of admission (which was steep) and the entire night was memorable and entertaining.

My brother in law and I arrived at the stadium at 3:45, only to find a line stretching from the left field bleachers to the first base entrance (which was closed).  The security was tight, with metal detectors and professional guards scanning everything you were bringing in, but it was only a minor incovenience to be a part of history.

We were able to walk down to the seats by the field and caught the American League’s batting practice.  It was fun seeing the MLB network broadcast, while taking pictures and chatting with other fans.  After grabbing some overpriced food (it was even higher than usual) we went to our seats to find free All-Star Game seat cushions.  (We even picked up 2 more as the 2 seats beside us remained unfilled).

Around the ballpark there were multiple attractions to view.  The video screen was constantly recapping the All-Star festivities and showing many interesting programs that baseball fans would enjoy.  We were particularly amazed by the show Ichiro was putting on in the outfield.  He was catching baseballs behind his back that were hit from home plate!

You could see the beefed up security everywhere you looked.  There were Snipers on the roof and security guards all along the field.  I was not happy that they covered up the hall of famers on the wall with State Farm signage, but I guess that is the price you pay to have an All-Star game.

The pregame festivities were amazing.  From the stealth bomber flyover (it is quieter than you would expect) to the largest American Flag I’ve ever seen, Major League Baseball did it right.  The ‘All-Stars among us’, highlighting regular people who have contributed interesting feats of community service was a nice touch and Sheryl Crowe did a nice job on the National Anthem (Sarah Evans also did well on God Bless America).

My only complaint is that they did not do enough for Stan Musial.  The Man deserved a bigger tribute, and the golf cart ride from right field to deliver the ball to the President was not enough.  I’ve seen better tributes to him at opening day and I was not impressed.

Yadier Molina and Ryan Franklin received great ovations (as did the other Hall of Famers), but the fans did the loudest cheering for Albert Pujols.  He received a fantastic standing ovation, and you could tell that he was moved.  The crouds chant of MVP was a nice touch.

The game itself was tight, and had some great rallies in the beginning, but did not quite live up to the admittedly high expectations.  It would have been nice to see a National League win, but the Carl Crawford catch was one of the best I’ve ever seen in person.  He definitely deserved the MVP.  The American League’s 3 headed closer attack of Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon and Mariano Rivera is just too much if you are not winning by the 6th inning.  That is a big advantage that I didn’t factor into my initial evaluation of the AL versus the NL.

I was surprised the bench played such a key role.  At one point, I looked at the National League Lineup and felt like you could get better lineups from the Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox.   The NL had the better starters, but the AL had the better bench and bullpen (especially with Matt Cain and Jonathan Broxton bowing out at the last minute).

I’m somewhat fine with 32 players making the team, but I don’t think the game should be about ‘letting everyone play’.  That’s not what I paid my money to see.  I’d love to see the game become more like a regular season affair, where both teams are trying their best to win (with their best lineups).

Overall, it was a memorable 4 days that will live in my memory for a lifetime.

Filed Under: Baseball