Huge thanks to my mother-in-law, Kerry, who gave Katie and I tickets to all the MLB All-Star events! Here's a rundown of what went on:
MLB Fanfest: I couldn't go but Katie went with Kerry, Isabelle, and a former student studying to be a sports journalist. Lots of good stuff. I'll let her talk about that on her blog (link on the side there, somewhere).
The Celebrity/Legends Game: I haven't watched this in the past because following celebrities is not one of my hobbies, but we had tickets and the spare time so we decided to check it out. Having never seen one, I can't compare the quality of celebs in past years. But this year's batch didn't do much for me. Nick Jonas may have been the biggest celebrity there. I was happy to see Chord Overstreet (Sam from Glee) and he made a pretty awesome play, but I don't think he's a celeb. Jennie Finch "pitched" (slow pitch softball) but despite her gold medal in Olympic Softball, she's still just a local celeb. There were some random dudes I liked (Matt from Heroes) but no celebrities, really, save Jonas.
The Legends were pretty good, though. Of course there was Luis Gonzalez and Mark Grace, and Matt Williams made an appearance. Probably best of all was Rickey Henderson, who had a leadoff home run off of Jennie Finch. He played hard and brought personality.
There was a mini-homerun derby that pitted Jonas and Henderson against some dude and Gonzo. Jonas and Henderson each hit one HR, some dude hit two, so Gonzo only had to hit one to win it all.
The whole thing took maybe 65 minutes. Given the price of admission (which I won't list), I don't think the fans got their money's worth. But it was a gift to Katie and I and we enjoyed it. Like I said, I can't say if there are usually bigger names there and I can't say if SB 1070 played a role in keeping other celebs away.
MLB Home Run Derby: !!!!! This. Was. Awesome.
Katie and I are NL fans, mostly because of the Diamondbacks but also because we don't care for the DH position (I'm more ambivalent than Katie is but I tend to lean against the DH). So our natural inclination in all things, even exhibitions like the HR Derby, is to cheer for NL.
However, Prince Fielder made that nearly impossible. This year, for the first time ever, the HR Derby had "captains" that chose three teammates from their league to try and outscore the other league (even though there is only one winner in the end). The captains were the previous two winners, Prince Fielder for the NL and David Ortiz for the AL.
Prince Fielder, a 275 lb. vegetarian, weighed his options for power on his NL team, and he came up with Matt Holliday (good choice), Matt Kemp (meh) and... Rickie Weeks, a teammate of his on the Brewers, not known for his power but whatever. Why is this horrible? He did not choose Justin Upton, an Arizona Diamondback who hits long home runs in the same field on which the HR Derby would occur. Nevermind any home field advantage, nevermind getting the fans on your side... let's choose Rickie Weeks cuz he's my homeboy.
Arizona fans were not amused. Fielder was booed all night, Weeks (who didn't deserve it) was booed too, only hit 3 HRs in the first round and was summarily eliminated. After Round 1, it was 3 AL players against one, Fielder. He was eliminated in Round 2.
But you know what? That only added some story to a night that would have been spectacular without it, because this HR Derby was quite the show, thanks to Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez. They were hitting bombs all over right field. I can't figure out how to describe it. It was so steady and consistent that you expected the home run, yet you were in awe that they were able to keep doing it over and over and over again.
The ESPN article about the HR Derby captured part of it: one guy nearly went over a wall trying to catch... his fourth HR ball. Another guy made the catch of the year: he caught a HR ball, landed in the pool with bikini-clad hotties... and didn't spill his beer. Um, how can it get any better than that (and I don't even drink)?!
The HR Derby was absolutely worth the price of admission. Katie and I watch this every year so we're somewhat biased, but if this wasn't the best one we've seen, it was at least on par with the Abreu and Hamilton derbies, and even better than the Tejada/Berkman derby because we got to see it live.
My only complaint: there needed to be an extra charity boost for hitting a home run into the pool, and it's a tremendous oversight by MLB and all charitable organizations that that no such portion of the contest was included.
MLB All-Star Game: It's amazing because the best players play against the best players... right?
Except they didn't: Sunday's starting pitchers couldn't play, and Jeter is a wussbag, and A-Rod is hurt or getting surgery, and Jeter is a wussbag, and Chipper Jones couldn't go, and Jeter is a wussbag.
There was still plenty of star power, but then there are the guys I'd never heard of from teams in last place. Even so, they surprise you: Starlin Castro from the Cubs stole second then third, and Hunter Pence threw out a guy at home with a perfect toss from left field.
The score wasn't close and there weren't enough "OH MY!" plays, but it was great to be there and see all the fans from all over enjoying the game. That was really the best part: cheering with other fans instead of against them.
All in all, a good experience. There's plenty more I could say; maybe I'll add more later.
MLB Fanfest: I couldn't go but Katie went with Kerry, Isabelle, and a former student studying to be a sports journalist. Lots of good stuff. I'll let her talk about that on her blog (link on the side there, somewhere).
The Celebrity/Legends Game: I haven't watched this in the past because following celebrities is not one of my hobbies, but we had tickets and the spare time so we decided to check it out. Having never seen one, I can't compare the quality of celebs in past years. But this year's batch didn't do much for me. Nick Jonas may have been the biggest celebrity there. I was happy to see Chord Overstreet (Sam from Glee) and he made a pretty awesome play, but I don't think he's a celeb. Jennie Finch "pitched" (slow pitch softball) but despite her gold medal in Olympic Softball, she's still just a local celeb. There were some random dudes I liked (Matt from Heroes) but no celebrities, really, save Jonas.
The Legends were pretty good, though. Of course there was Luis Gonzalez and Mark Grace, and Matt Williams made an appearance. Probably best of all was Rickey Henderson, who had a leadoff home run off of Jennie Finch. He played hard and brought personality.
There was a mini-homerun derby that pitted Jonas and Henderson against some dude and Gonzo. Jonas and Henderson each hit one HR, some dude hit two, so Gonzo only had to hit one to win it all.
The whole thing took maybe 65 minutes. Given the price of admission (which I won't list), I don't think the fans got their money's worth. But it was a gift to Katie and I and we enjoyed it. Like I said, I can't say if there are usually bigger names there and I can't say if SB 1070 played a role in keeping other celebs away.
MLB Home Run Derby: !!!!! This. Was. Awesome.
Katie and I are NL fans, mostly because of the Diamondbacks but also because we don't care for the DH position (I'm more ambivalent than Katie is but I tend to lean against the DH). So our natural inclination in all things, even exhibitions like the HR Derby, is to cheer for NL.
However, Prince Fielder made that nearly impossible. This year, for the first time ever, the HR Derby had "captains" that chose three teammates from their league to try and outscore the other league (even though there is only one winner in the end). The captains were the previous two winners, Prince Fielder for the NL and David Ortiz for the AL.
Prince Fielder, a 275 lb. vegetarian, weighed his options for power on his NL team, and he came up with Matt Holliday (good choice), Matt Kemp (meh) and... Rickie Weeks, a teammate of his on the Brewers, not known for his power but whatever. Why is this horrible? He did not choose Justin Upton, an Arizona Diamondback who hits long home runs in the same field on which the HR Derby would occur. Nevermind any home field advantage, nevermind getting the fans on your side... let's choose Rickie Weeks cuz he's my homeboy.
Arizona fans were not amused. Fielder was booed all night, Weeks (who didn't deserve it) was booed too, only hit 3 HRs in the first round and was summarily eliminated. After Round 1, it was 3 AL players against one, Fielder. He was eliminated in Round 2.
But you know what? That only added some story to a night that would have been spectacular without it, because this HR Derby was quite the show, thanks to Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez. They were hitting bombs all over right field. I can't figure out how to describe it. It was so steady and consistent that you expected the home run, yet you were in awe that they were able to keep doing it over and over and over again.
The ESPN article about the HR Derby captured part of it: one guy nearly went over a wall trying to catch... his fourth HR ball. Another guy made the catch of the year: he caught a HR ball, landed in the pool with bikini-clad hotties... and didn't spill his beer. Um, how can it get any better than that (and I don't even drink)?!
The HR Derby was absolutely worth the price of admission. Katie and I watch this every year so we're somewhat biased, but if this wasn't the best one we've seen, it was at least on par with the Abreu and Hamilton derbies, and even better than the Tejada/Berkman derby because we got to see it live.
My only complaint: there needed to be an extra charity boost for hitting a home run into the pool, and it's a tremendous oversight by MLB and all charitable organizations that that no such portion of the contest was included.
MLB All-Star Game: It's amazing because the best players play against the best players... right?
Except they didn't: Sunday's starting pitchers couldn't play, and Jeter is a wussbag, and A-Rod is hurt or getting surgery, and Jeter is a wussbag, and Chipper Jones couldn't go, and Jeter is a wussbag.
There was still plenty of star power, but then there are the guys I'd never heard of from teams in last place. Even so, they surprise you: Starlin Castro from the Cubs stole second then third, and Hunter Pence threw out a guy at home with a perfect toss from left field.
The score wasn't close and there weren't enough "OH MY!" plays, but it was great to be there and see all the fans from all over enjoying the game. That was really the best part: cheering with other fans instead of against them.
All in all, a good experience. There's plenty more I could say; maybe I'll add more later.
