I’m aware that it isn’t November 2nd and that the actual New York City Marathon is 108 days away, but while the hats and gloves worn by the competitors may have been different than those that compete in the race, this years MLB elite were involved in a marathon of their own last night. Last night’s MLB All-Star Game offered a baseball fan everything they could have wanted… even if it took just under 5 hours to do so. Needless to say, I don’t think any of the players knew what they had signed up for when they agreed to play in one of the most memorable All-Star Games in the history of baseball.
This year’s All-Star Game seemed destined to be memorable before it even began. First there was the home run derby which might have been the most exciting in years and then there was all the history. The parade that was made up of 40 or so Hall of Famers like George Brett, 'Yogi Berra, and Hank Aaron was the perfect moment to open the last ever All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Because when it comes down to it, the All-Star Game is more about the memorable moments they create rather than the result of the game. If it weren’t for the NL''' being winless in the last 12 All-Star Games, there are very few people that would remember the result of recent games, minus the infamous tie in 2002.
The game itself provided the fans with many moments, especially after the ninth inning. Hell, the first five innings were a draw except for a Matt Holliday solo shot in the 5th. That was followed by a Berkman sac fly that scored Ramirez in the 6th, MVP J.D. Drew’s 2 run jack in the 7th to tie the game up, a Gonzalez sac fly in the 8th that scored Tejada but was quickly answered in the bottom of the inning when Longoria ground-ruled doubled to left field and cashed in Sizemore. That’s not a whole lot of action for 9 innings of baseball; however, luckily we were treated to some crazy action in extra innings.
As soon as the game went in to extra innings the game became exponentially more exciting. I remember seeing a shot of Bud Selig and thinking about how he was probably crapping his pants praying the game would end before both teams exhausted all of their pitching options. Both teams, especially the NL, found themselves in tight spots in extra innings and it took some magic like a Nate McLouth strike from centerfield to the plate to out Navarro or Cook pitching his way out of a 0 out bases loaded situation to keep the game rolling along. In the end the game ended on what would typically be an anticlimactic sacrifice fly by Michael Young, but Corey Hart came up throwing and was a second late in throwing Home Run Derby winner Justin Morneau out at the plate.
Sure, the game may have not ended with a walk off home run or with Mariano Rivera coming in and closing things down in front of his hometown crowd but for at least 5 innings true baseball fans were sitting on the edge of their seats. Hell, some true baseball fans may have been sitting on the edge of their seats the entire 290 minutes the game lasted, and if you were one of those individuals I hope you kept your drinking to a minimum and didn’t fall out of your seat.
At one point, it seemed like last nights game would never end and I’m sure lots of people didn’t want it to. Yankee Stadium is a magical place loaded with history and memories and while you get a touch of this watching the game on TV with all the flashbacks they did, you don’t truly understand it until you feel the energy at that stadium. It’s sad that it as to be replaced but at least Yankee stadium got one hell of a send off last night!
