| Authored by Andrew Perna - 18th July, 2008 - 11:00 am
 The storybook ending was there. With the crowd in Yankee Stadium at full throat, Mariano Rivera marched out to the mound for the American League with a victory in his sights.
Rivera struck out Ryan Ludwick of St. Louis and Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro gunned out Washington’s Cristian Guzman, who was attempting to either steal second or execute a hit-and-run with one out in the top of the ninth. With the chance to end the game in the home-half of the inning, the AL offense stumbled and the historic game entered extra innings.
However, Manager Terry Francona sent Rivera out for the tenth and after getting himself into a jam, the right-hander got Florida’s Dan Uggla to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the storybook ending alive.
In the bottom of the tenth the AL seemed primed to grab a relatively easy victory, with the legendary Yankees' closer earning the win, but it was all for naught as they failed to score after loading the bases with no outs on Colorado’s Aaron Cook.
Instead, the game lasted long into the night and more than an hour into the next day. Almost mercifully, after fifteen action-packed innings, Michael Young of Texas hit a sacrifice fly that sent Minnesota’s Justin Morneau home to give the AL a 4-3 victory in a game that became a global send off to Yankee Stadium.
The 79th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was unlike any of the seventy-eight that were played before it.
Prior to the game, more than forty Hall of Famers graced the field, with this year’s starting roster joining them position-by-position. Sharing a spectacle with more than 50,000 that included the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols, and Lance Berkman was one thing, but standing to honor such legends at the same time was something no one in attendance will ever forget.
I may not have been alive to witness their feats first-hand, but as both a journalist and fanatic, I’m well aware of the talent that was assembled and the weight of the moment.
Watching Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Yogi Berra, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays, Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Robinson, and Ozzie Smith all tip their caps to the crowd was something that still gives me goosebumps when thinking about it days later.
Having spent Monday and Tuesday in New York City for the events, there are simply too many memorable moments to recall in this column.
Spending time with nearly all of the 63 All-Stars during the media availability, being present when Francona and Clint Hurdle announced their respective lineups, and sharing an escalator with Jeter’s parents highlighted the early afternoon on Monday.
The NBA holds a similar event prior to the draft, but an average of eight players are featured over roughly thirty minutes. On Monday, I felt like a hamster running aimlessly in one of those tiny wheels, trying my darnedest to spend time with as many of the players as I could.
Forty-five minutes might seem like a substantial amount of time, but with more than thirty players on each league’s roster, that left me with less than one-hundred seconds per All-Star. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to make stops in front of each.
Spending substantial time with Rivera, Morneau, Ludwick, J.D. Drew, Ryan Braun, Dan Haren, and Brandon Webb was something I’m thrilled I opted to do. All were incredibly engaging, as well as appreciative of each question asked, which isn’t always the case in this business.
The action soon moved to the Stadium, where each league took some batting practice, and the eight participants prepared for the Home Run Derby.
After setting up my laptop in the press box above the third base line, way up to be exact, I descended into the basement of The House That Ruth Built to take advantage of the chance to walk onto the field with other members of the press.
Thankfully, I usually have pretty good timing.
Just as I finished navigating the twists-and-turns of the lower level of the Stadium and approached the tunnel leading into the home dugout, the third baseman of the New York Yankees popped out of the clubhouse.
For those who haven’t been lucky enough to travel through the tunnel, it’s rather tiny, which means a mammoth of a man like Alex Rodriguez and regular-size gentleman like myself weren’t able to walk side-by-side onto the field.
However, I was able to congratulate Alex on making the team, introduce myself, and shake hands with perhaps the game’s best player and most sought after tabloid target.
Soon after I was on the field, in the general vicinity of the on-deck circle, taking in the sights of perhaps the most famous building in the history of professional sports. What I didn’t expect was security to allow the press to walk almost right up to the cage as the All-Stars took some early hacks.
Unable to help myself, I subtly “dropped” my pen to snag some dirt from the legendary stadium, preserving a piece of history for myself. If Jeter can announce to the world that he’s going to steal something before he leaves, I figured yours truly could take a few granules of dirt.
Guilty as charged.
Back in the press box, I prepared for the Derby. I expected to see a show, but nothing like the display of power that Josh Hamilton provided in the first round of action. I enjoyed the bevy of long balls, but missed some as I blogged live through the event for a RealGM feature.
However, I’m pretty sure I caught every one of Hamilton’s bombs in the opening round as he shattered Bobby Abreu’s single-round record.
Many times while at the plate, Hamilton’s power gave me goosebumps, especially when he blasted a shot over 500 feet that smacked into the wall of advertisements in right-center.
Exchanging e-mails with executive editor Christopher Reina while watching, it became apparent that one didn’t have to witness such a display of raw power in person to have the hair on your arm stand on end.
Unfortunately, after Josh lit the Stadium on fire with his performance, nothing could match what those in attendance had witnessed early on. Even more tragically, with no offense to Morneau, Hamilton couldn’t even get himself back up to take the title in the final round. Regardless, Josh was the star at the Stadium on Monday night.
What will always stick in my mind were the electric cheers that Hamilton received in New York, a place where fans often boo their own, and almost never cheer an opposing player.
After spending more than twelve hours in NYC, I hopped (actually dragged myself) onto the Metro North to head home. I would arrive, shower and hit the sack twenty-two hours after I began my whirlwind day. Something I’d do again in a heartbeat if given the chance.
Tuesday brought a lighter workload. I took an early afternoon train into the city and was lucky enough to be on the field once again three hours prior to the start of the FOX Telecast.
More stars roamed the field than on Monday, as Sheryl Crow, Kenny Chesney and Alyssa Milano all soaked in the excitement. I was surprised to see Chesney wearing a Padres hat, because he’s infamous for being a Boston fan, but I suppose he dabbles.
Crow was walking from player-to-player getting a handful of baseballs signed, while Milano did her best to look beautiful in front of all the snapping cameras.
It’s also good to know that money hasn’t tainted these players entirely. Just like any regular guy, they seemed much more willing to have extended conversations with fans and reporters that were of the attractive female persuasion. However, unlike your everyday dude, they are rather wealthy and for the most part physically imposing.
Content with the tiny bit of Yankee Stadium I secured for myself on Monday, I just soaked in the scenery. I noted that Hamilton seemed to be one of the most approachable guys, signing autographs for kids and taking pictures for fans for quite a long time while the National League took batting practice.
On a few occasions I had waves of goosebumps ride over my body, simply because of where I happened to be standing.
As a younger journalist, it was inspiring to see the likes of Mike Lupica, Rick Reilly and Peter Gammons. I’ve always admired Lupica because of the versatility in his writing, from columns to children’s books, and it meant a lot to me to be able to introduce myself and shake his hand.
After pacing around the field trying to commit the entire scene to memory, I grabbed a media meal (yes, both delicious and free) and headed back to the press box.
I engaged in some small talk with the reporters that we sitting beside me for the second-consecutive night, and enjoyed my roast beef sandwich. Soon after, the clock struck 8:00 and the fun began on the field.
I already discussed the thrill of seeing dozens of legends assembled together, so I won’t rehash that, but once the game itself began I felt a twinge of sadness. I knew that once it ended, the week’s experience would officially come to an end.
As fellow writers will attest, “covering” an event is not all fun and games. Thanks to my increased involvement with RealGM, I spent the few first innings adding various Wiretap news stories to the site, with my baseball-overloaded mind stretching over to the NBA, NFL and NHL for a brief moment.
After finishing that matter of business, I put some early touches on Wednesday’s edition of the Scoop Du Jour – my daily column for those of you who haven’t been around the last few years. I highlighted some stories that I knew I wanted to discuss before sitting back and actually watching each pitch around the fifth inning.
The game itself was thrilling. The home runs by Matt Holliday and J.D. Drew were almost perfectly timed as the crowd was buzzing for some offense, but still respected the pitching duel that was on display through the first handful of innings.
Admittedly, it was a high moment for me to see Rivera march out from the bullpen to take the ball from Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning. It was admirable of Francona to do so in the middle of an inning (as well as to take Jeter and A-Rod out in the midst of the action) so the fans could bathe Mo with one of the loudest cheers I’ve heard in any venue.
Rivera, who in my unbiased opinion is the greatest closer in the history of baseball, pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings. He allowed two hits, but struck out a pair to preserve the tie and give the AL offense two chances to help give him a victory at home in Yankee Stadium.
In the end, it took five more innings and three more pitchers for the “home” team to come out on top, but I don’t think anyone in attendance would have wanted it any other way.
The storybook ending involving Rivera getting the win in the 79th All-Star Game, a little more than two months from when Yankee Stadium closes it’s doors, may have ended when the battle stretched into the eleven inning on Wednesday morning, but the stories from the an amazing two days in the Bronx will live on forever.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
