For the past 83 years the best of the best in baseball have come together to compete. The American League greats go head to head against stars of the National League. It’s truly the best all star game. This year’s game takes place in Kansas City at Kaufman Stadium.
The NFL has become a laughing stock with its annual Pro Bowl where its half-speed play and pretty much all the big stars find an excuse not to play. The NBA is more of a circus with no defense and outrageous scores. The NHL has become a farce with its lack of defense as well. So the boys of summer are the only pro sport where the all star game matters and means something.
In recent years, the league made the winner of the game, the league that would be the home team in the World Series. There’s something to play for. Not tonight, Monday night, there’s the Home Run Derby where four or five players from each league square off against each other and see who can hit the most home runs. And during the event players will be using social media to tweet and post pics. Now what if Twitter had been around when the likes of Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Yogi Berra were playing in the All Star game? Could you imagine their tweets?
“Hey, Teddy Ballgame, top this! #mantlerules” – Mickey Mantle
“Mantle ur a *&$#*$#” – Ted Williams
“It ain’t over till its over #yogirules” – Yogi Berra
“Let’s get this thing over with and get a six-pack #alcoholismyfriend” – Billy Martin
Not sure we could post the pics that quartet would have taken during or after the event but between the lines they were all business. They played hard and they…well…played hard. The derby is sponsored by State Farm Insurance, here’s their tweet about it.
“State Farm @StateFarm
Hit home runs during the #HRDerby. Play our #GoToBat game for charity & you could win a VIP trip to the World Series! http://st8.fm/GTB.”
With 82 All Star games to look back on, what’s your favorite moment? I’ve got a few. With the game taking place in KC, the obvious one is when Bo Jackson of the Royals took over the game on both offense and defense. His spectacular hitting and fielding were the ultimate definition of an All Star. Dave Parker won the MVP in 1979 with this performance. Reggie Jackson pretty much hit this home run out of Tiger Stadium in the 1971 classic.
And there have been some comedic moments. Who can forget in 1993 when John Kruk faced Randy Johnson and lived to tell about it. It’s a great game, a great All Star occasion and it’s the one you should be watching to see what special moments occur this year. The pre game and Home Run Derby will be on ESPN somewhere while the game will be on FOX TV. For more highlights, go to youtube.com and google MLB All Star Game.
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