Great, entertaining All-Star game last night, for a number of reasons. How about the number of runners thrown out at the plate? I don't know if it was poor clutch hitting, good fielding, and/or good pitching-probably some combination of all three, but I've never seen such a series of plays at the plate in my life....Good to see Pirates' rep Nate McLouth make one of the throws from the outfield to extend the game and then almost jack one out to give the N.L. the lead. He also had a great hustle play, beating out a sacrifice bunt, by absolutely flying down the line. He's come from nowhere to have a great year in relative obscurity in Pittsburgh, so it was nice to see him excel on the Big Stage.
And the Big Stage it was, as the game was played in Yankee Stadium in its final year (Yes, there was plenty of hype surrounding this). Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, which was also the year the Yankees won the first of their unprecedented 26 World Championships. Coincidence? I don't know, but it will sure be interesting to see how the new ballpark affects the team. I've been to Yankee Stadium for a handful of games, and I could really feel something special there. I, at first, thought it was because maybe I'd seen the thing on TV so many times that being there in person was sort of surreal experience, but who knows? Other people also seem to feel some sort of reverence in the place...
Maybe it was some of the magic of the stadium last night that helped extend the game for some 14-15 innings, almost like it didn't want to give up the big stage, and as it appears that this year's edition of the Yanks are headed nowhere, it might have been the old ballyard's last chance to be involved in a great baseball moment.
We watched the game in the backyard, taking advantage of the Fox 66.1 over-the-air HD feed, which came in great though my souped up rabbit ears. Beautiful night, stars out, almost a full moon, and just warm enough to enjoy some cold ones out of the cooler and a couple dogs on the grill (with hot coals left over from dinner). It did turn into a pretty late one, but I think it was worth it.
Cheers.
Ralph
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2 comments:
Ralph, I don't have anything to say about the all-star game. However, I thought that you might be interested to know that your fellow Prep alumn Bob Koca won the Cannes Riveria backgammon tournament this past weekend. He went heads up against Gus Hanson (yes, the poker superstar) and beat him handily. Koca in addition to winning that tournament, he qualified to play in the World Series of Backgammon starting today. If he wins that, he would be the world champion of backgammon. Pretty interesting, eh?
That's fuckin' great. Please give Bob my congratulations. I know Bob was a big baseball fan (a stats guy like myself) when we were both at Prep and my brother introduced me to him. Ask him if he still follows the old hardball game and hip to my blog if you get a chance.
Cheers.
Ralph
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