July 11, 2007

MLB held its All-Star game last night. With a little less than two weeks before the NFL training camps open, this time of the year is reserved for MLB. So I have decided to blog about this game.

The pregame interview with Willie Mays was excellent. Fox did a great job and both Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr were genuinely interested in what Mays had to say. That interview alone garners more interest in the game.

However the ensuing “Swing for a Million” promotion drained most of that energy. The guy who attempted barely hit the ball out of the infield. The pregame introductions brought some of that energy back especially when Barry Bonds was introduced. The pregame tribute to Willie Mays was even more touching than the interview. It took me back to the summers when I read Satchiel Paige’s book and actually have a strong love to play baseball. This was before I struggled to catch up to fastballs, which eventually drained that said love. Now I’m a regular fan for the season and a highly interested fan for the playoffs.

Now that the game has finally started, there was some first time jitters as Prince Fielder dropped a routine throw at first base. That mistake was quickly made up for as third baseman David Wright of the NY Mets made a diving stop to end the inning. In the bottom of the first Jose Reyes led off with a single, which brought Barry Bonds to the plate. His first at-bat ended with a flyout to right field. Nevertheless, Griffey was able to come to the rescue with a single the brought home Reyes, and gave the National League (NL) a 1-0 lead.

Griffey then helped to preserve that lead by making a strong throw from right field to nail Alex Rodriguez at the plate to end the 3rd inning. Ichiro Suzuki provided some sparks as he delivered an inside-the-park home run to put the American League (AL) up 2-1. That happened to be the first inside-the –park HR in All-Star game history. The AL then added to their lead by a solo HR from Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford in the top of the 6th.

The NL cut into the lead following a triple by Carlos Beltran and a sacrifice fly by Griffey. The game moved along until the top of 8th inning when Cleveland Indians catcher Victor Martinez hit a 2-run HR to push the AL’s lead to 5-2. The NL made a late push when Alfonso Soriano hit a 2-run HR to cut the lead to 5-4. Then the NL loaded the bases against Francisco Rodriguez. He was able to save the game and now the AL has 10 straight victories over the NL. This victory also gives the AL home-field advantage for the World Series.

Well I must say that this year’s All-Star game was quite entertaining and at the same time it was a well-played game. Bring on the 2nd half of the season.