Good game. Hey, watching the American League in this one was almost like watching the Yankees play this season – with all those wasted At Bats with runners in scoring position.
According to my unofficial clock, this one ended at 1:37:27 AM ET – the day following the day that it started. And, yes, I watched the whole thing. I really feel bad for all the people who went to this game. By the 11th inning, it looked like 20,000 people had left the Stadium. Come the 15th inning, it looked like there was maybe 15,000 fans remaining at the park. I’m not sure that I can blame people for leaving – it being as late as it was…and so many people probably having to get up for work the next day. Still, when you paid as much money as most people had to pay for these All-Star tickets, it would be nice if you were able to see the end of the game.
O.K., here come a bunch of thoughts on this one…
I’m not sure that I was thrilled to see that footage of Mo Rivera teaching Doc Halladay and Scott Kazmir how to grip his cutter.
Shame on FOX for not saying/showing anything about Bobby Murcer until the bottom of the 11th inning – when many people probably left the broadcast. They could have done it much earlier in the game.
Nice job by Terry Francona to take A-Rod and Jeter out of the game in the way that he did – and too bad it back-fired on A-Rod…with the fans not giving him a big hand (like they did later when Jeter came out of the game).
I’m sooooo glad that Mariano Rivera did not end up having a poor showing in this game. And, I’m sooooo glad that David Wright did not end up having a good showing in this game. Having either one of those things happening at the last All-Star game at this Yankee Stadium would just not be right.
It was interesting to see (son) Hal and (daughter) Jennifer with Big Stein before the game – with no sign of (son) Hank. Maybe they all thought it was best to leave Hank at home?
I really thought that FOX could have done a better job at showcasing the Stadium during their broadcast of this event. After all, “the Stadium” was one of the biggest stars in this show – and they treated it like any other “Game of the Week” broadcast in terms of what you saw on your T.V.
I mean, they had the blimp there…and it was daylight just about up to the first pitch…would it have killed FOX to show at least one aerial shot of the two Stadiums, side-by-side, in the sun?
Lastly, was it just me, or, was the pre-game ceremony for this one a little lacking? It really didn’t feel…well, it didn’t feel as special as the pre-game ceremony before the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park.
I mean no disrespect to the Hall-of-Famers who were there…but, I felt like baseball did a poor job with respect to getting certain Hall-of-Famers to attend. Sure, I realize that guys like Red Schoendienst, Bobby Doerr, George Kell, Duke Snider and Stan Musial are old. So, I can excuse them for not being there. But, no Tom Seaver? No Sandy Koufax? No Joe Morgan? No Nolan Ryan? No Johnny Bench? No Carl Yaztrzemski? Heck, even no Carlton Fisk or Sparky Anderson? Something’s fishy here…
But, it was funny to see Wade Boggs there wearing a Yankees hat. Betcha some fans in Beantown are not too thrilled with that one.
That’s it for now. I have to get up in five hours. See you…I was going to say “tomorrow” but that would be Thursday (now). So, see ya “later.”
15 Responses to “2008 All-Star Game”
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July 16th, 2008 at 3:05 am
FOX is so repugnant.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Don’t forget Fox cutting away during “Enter Sandman”
July 16th, 2008 at 8:15 am
No kidding Raf, Fox had to get in there commercials instead. What a bunch of idiots.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
~~Don’t forget Fox cutting away during “Enter Sandman”!~~
Yeah, I forgot about that by the end of the game – but I was steamed when it happened. Stupid, stupid, stupid move by FOX on that one.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:06 am
who decides who the singer of the national anthem will be? I was hoping to see the likes of Ronan Tynan, but instead we got that horrible rendition by Sheryl Crowe. It came off like a bad college coffee house rendition of the song. Very lame especially after seeing all the legends in the pre-game. I normally wouldn’t care, but it was that bad. But I guess fox is probably under obligation to promote certain singers. I guess we should be lucky that Fox didn’t try to pimp some American Idol runner up instead, but it wouldn’t have been much worse than what we got.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Whatever Fox did, everyone should give credit to the way Francona handled the situation, being the ‘enemy’ in Yankee Stadium. He gave Jeter and A-Rod an extra ovation and by using Mo as he did, he got a bigger ovation, and on TV (even if they had to break away for a commercial, what did you expect?) by bringing him in with one out.
Boggs will always be an a-hole so I am not surprised he wore the Yankee cap. In my opinion, as Hall of Famers appearing because they are enshrined at Cooperstown, they should have been obligated to wear the cap they went in with. Yankee fans still would have cheered.
As for Morgan, until I hear otherwise, I am sure he didn’t show because he wasn’t going to be introduced next to Ryne Sandburg, the man he campaigned to keep out of the Hall and then dissed by not showing up when he was inducted. There are many reasons to feel contempt for Joe Morgan, that’s only one. But its a good one.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Shame on FOX for not saying/showing anything about Bobby Murcer until the bottom of the 11th inning – when many people probably left the broadcast. They could have done it much earlier in the game.
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That annoyed me a lot. Probably just as much as the “Enter Sandman” bit. It was as if it were an afterthought; “Oh yeah by the way, Yankee legend Bobby Murcer died.”
C’mon! I guess this is what we get when you cater to the 18-24 demographic. Idiots.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I don’t think the demographic they cater to actually exists, unless there are a whole lot more people than I know of who passionately hate baseball, but watch it anyway.
It must suck for guys like Francona who actually have respect for the game and come from a team that has a decent chance at being in the WS to be forced to play Little League coach for the fans while at the same time having to contend with trying to win the game after taking out the best players in the early innings.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Having been there until the very end, I can confirm the follwing: I AM EXHAUSTED TODAY.
I’ll tell you what I didn’t like about the pre-game introductions. Dave Winfield and Gary Carter were complete dicks. Winfield brought both his Padres and Yankees caps and showed them both. Dude, you made your choice and that’s fine. But Mr. May, please keep your nose clean of New York. Douche. As for Carter, showing the Mets hat was a very hollow attempt at trying to cover up for his totally disrespectful assault on Willie Randolph’s job. Both men disgusted me last night.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I’d like to think that Mariano was dealing in misinformation, and that if Hallady or Kazmir ever try to throw what he was showing them, it’s going to get hit a long way.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Dave Winfield and Gary Carter were complete dicks.
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Not sure what the issue was; Winfield & Carter had made significant contributions to the Yanks & Mets respectively.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Not sure what the issue was; Winfield & Carter had made significant contributions to the Yanks & Mets respectively.
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It’s a bit disingenuous to show up at Yankee Stadium preening as a Yankee despite the fact that you’re a Padre Hall of Famer. Keep in mind that Winfield chose to enter the Hall in a Padres cap. I understand that he was there for a long time and I understand that he and Steinbrenner hated eachother. But if that was his choice — a defensible one, certainly — then don’t try kissing ass after the fact.
I’m not saying my point of view is the only one to have in this matter. But Winfield rubbed me the wrong way last night. I remember quite vividly the summer he made it to Cooperstown how we all felt so slighted that he took a friggin’ Cadillac from San Diego in exchange for wearing their hat to the ceremony.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
“I’m pretty sure he (Boggs) was the only Former Great on the field who chose not to wear the cap that is on his head in his Hall of Fame plaque. Shortly after Boggs’s introduction, Dave Winfield was introduced wearing a Padres cap, but he acknowledged his bond to the Yankees by producing a second cap and holding the two caps up together. Gary Carter did something similar a bit later. This seemed the classy thing to do, the only way to pay tribute to both fan bases that had supported those players for many years.” – Josh Wilker
I didn’t feel slighted that he went in as a Padre. Now had he gone in an Angel, a Jay, a Twin, or an Indian, then maybe I’d feel a bit slighted.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
To each his own, I guess. I found both Winfield’s and Carter’s displays to be tacky at best and disingenuous at worst.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I also was surprised by the fact the Koufax, Seaver, and Bench were not there — those were the legends I noticed being absent. I thought I had heard something about “every living Hall of Famer” was going to be there; obviously not. The 1999 game in Fenway was more emotional because of the fact that all the living immortals were there.