Charged with Emotion: Remembering the 1999 MLB All-Star Game

Each July we celebrate and commemorate baseball's greatest over three select nights, remembering the greats of America's national pastime. Those celebrated are not only today's All-Stars, but the stars of tomorrow, and the stars of yesteryear.

During this timespan, all cities across the nation send forth their best players to join together for one night only to compete in the All-Star Game. Fans choose representatives as the players from each league join together in hopes of gaining the home field advantage in the World Series

The game is always an emotional experience, but on the eve of tonight's All-Star Game in Saint Louis, I look back at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, possibly one of the greatest ever.

It was a warm summer's evening in Boston. The American League team was led by Yankees' skipper Joe Torre as all 37,187 fans in attendance would proceed to boo several Yankees, including Torre himself, throughout the night.

Boston was represented very well with their superstars, Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, both starting the game, and with Jose Offerman among the reserve corps.

With everything else put aside, emotion certainly played the biggest factor in this game factor in this game.

This game was remembered by many as the greatest moment of their careers as well.

"My most memorable baseball moment would have to have been the 1999 All-Star Game," Ken Bottenfield said in an interview after his career had ended. "Most every kid dreams of playing in a World Series or an All Star game. I never got to the series but the all-star game was beyond description. I got to be a part of the best of the best for a short time." 

The ceremonies that preceded the game had been very heartwarming. Fans all over the nation had given their tributes to some of the greats such as Hank Aaron, Willy Mays, and Stan Musial.

However, the one man that received the greatest ovation was the one that brought tears to our eyes in Fenway Park: Boston's own, Ted Williams.

Williams had taken a ride in a golf cart around Fenway Park to give his last hurrah to the fans as he approached the pitcher's mound one last time.

The emotion created by Williams was so great because all fans throughout the nation knew that, due to his aging, this would probably be Ted Williams' last All Star Game in the stadium that he had dominated for his entire career.

As Williams approached the mound, all the players and staffs had mobbed him, as if he were a god coming down from the heavens. Truth be told, he was a god of baseball that was on his way to the heavens.

"Gods don't answer letters," John Updike wrote of that moment 10 years ago.

"I can only describe it as great," said Ken Griffey Jr.

"Hell, I haven't had a base hit in 30 years, and I'm a better hitter now than I've ever been in my life," said the Splendid Splinter, now 80.

Ted would then get to throw his first and last pitch at an All-Star Game at Fenway Park, which would also close this century and lead us into Y2K.

Immediately after the first pitch was thrown to his longtime friend, Carlton Fisk, the fans, who were still on their feet, gave one last ovation to Williams as he left the field on his golf cart.

Nobody in attendance was left untouched as Williams departed from Fenway Park. It would be hard to follow up that performance; but still, there was an entire ballgame ahead.

With the start of the game behind schedule because of the ceremony, all players and staff were ordered to go back to the dugouts, but they ignored the call to instead honor Ted for a little while longer.

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