Posted by
Bill Crawford on Monday, July 14, 2008 9:19:29 PM
The All Star Game, like just about everything else in baseball, manages to be some sort of mush despite the marvelous sport it is at it's center.
The unbridled competition it once was turned into some sort of little league show in the last decade, with the managers striving to get every last player in before the lights went out. This is why a few years ago, they had to call it a tie and go home- Joe Torre ran out of players and the game wasn't over.
So now they decide the World Series home advantage with the All Star game. Jeez, do they ever need a real Commisioner, to slap the owners and players in the head when they leave their common sense home.
But, I digress. The star of this game is the stadium that you all need to get one last look at. Soak in the history. Revel in the excellence this team brought to the game for so many years.
Mind you, history abounds in baseball. There is plenty to take in within the ivy walls of Wrigley in Chicago. But there is also a century of heartbreaking failure, the longest run in organized sports.
There is a flush of recent dynasty in Fenway in Boston, but while the Yankees of Gerigh and Dimaggio were setting the professional standard, Ted Williams was in charge of a country club. If Ted weren't coming up in the bottom of the inning, he wouldn't even come back to the dugout. He would drop his glove and amble to the ice cream shop across the street, coming back to left field after his minions recorded three outs.
I know Yankee Stadium was rebuilt and changed in the 1970's. But it still has grass in right field where the greatest player who ever was patrolled. Take it in while you can. Before they jack the prices to the point where only bond traders can get season tickets. I guess they are doing that because you don't have to walk past the prison anymore to get from the subway to the gates.