The Mid-Summer Classic

Last night a very exciting All-Star game was played. I watched about two innings. These days I can't stay up very late, and my eyelids were already heavy after the second inning, so I turned the set off with no score. I did, however, enjoy the pre-game festivities, even though they dragged on so long it made the game start at nine o'clock.

Baseball, sort of like Hollywood, loves to navel-gaze and bask in nostalgia. Perhaps that's because with both institutions, it always seems like the old days were better. So, as the players were introduced, old-timers who are now in the Hall of Fame were also introduced, ranging from the fairly young guys like Wade Boggs to the ancient Bob Feller. It's interesting to note the demeanor of these guys. Some, like George Brett or Ozzie Smith, seem connected to today's players, and greeted them enthusiastically. Others (most specifically Willie Mays) seem comfortable with being cast as royalty, and Mays didn't even bother shaking hands with either of the current starting center-fielders, he even didn't seem to notice they were there. Also, where were Tom Seaver and Joe Morgan?

Now, I do hate the Yankees as a foe, but I couldn't help but get swept up in the emotion of George Steinbrenner, who looks very ill, being driven around the stadium and then to the mound to deliver balls to the living Yankee Hall of Famers: Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford and Goose Gossage (Goose will be inducted in just about ten days). It was touching to see the affection displayed for the Boss, especially by Yogi, who stayed away from Yankee Stadium for years because of the way Steinbrenner treated him.

After the first pitch, we got the National Anthem by Sheryl Crow (I wonder if Yogi likes her sound?) and then the obligatory show of military might by the flyover of a Stealth bomber. After all that, the game almost feels superfluous.

I watched the highlights of the game this morning. It went fifteen innings and well over four hours. The fun thing about extra-inning all-star games is that the starters are long gone and the key moments are played out by people many haven't heard of. In that way, the torch is passed. I just wish I could have stayed up to watch it.