THE ALL-STAR GAME: A LONG NIGHT’S JOURNEY INTO MORNING

By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck 

"July 30, 1949, my 15th birthday, my mother took me to Yankee Stadium for the first time. It started a long trail of memories about Yankee Stadium. It is the most famous sports cathedral in the world." Bud Selig, commissioner. 

I wasn’t there so why do I feel as washed out as if I had been? 

Just so you know, the American League won, 5-4 in 15 innings. 

The game ended at 1:37 am. The game lasted the 4-hour and 50-minutes. If it were up to Fox, this would be the last generation of baseball fans as they never let kids see any of the showcase events. A real commissioner would put a stop to these late starts 

Every, every, I mean every available player on each roster was used. “We ended up getting everybody in (the game), huh?'' National League manager Clint Hurdle said. Added AL manager Terry Francona: “It wasn't a whole lot of fun (to manage). Later on, I started to have panic attacks. (Major League Baseball official) Jimmie Lee Solomon came in the dugout at one point to check on things, and I asked him if he could pitch.'' 

As exhausted and as stressed as managers Terry Francona and Clint Hurdle were, nobody was more relieved that there was an ending than commissioner Bud Selig because what would have happened if the two pitchers on the mound, for the AL Scott Kazmir, and Brad Lidge for the NL, had reached their limit? I expected to see Whitey Ford and Bob Gibson warming up. 

Speaking of the Hall of Famers, I can’t imagine that anybody is going to be able to top the magnificent introduction which saw 49 Hall of Famers taking their positions on the field before the game and joined by the current starters for each position from each league. It was amazing. 

Note to Fox TV, we don’t need to see shots of crowds cheering, we can hear that. We needed to see the interactions between the current All-Stars and the Hall of Famers. 

Willie Mays really looked annoyed by the whole thing. I think he’s still ticked off that he’s not introduced as “Baseball’s greatest living player,” a title that has not been used since the passing of Joe D. 

I almost expected a cooler to brought out and introduced as the return of Ted Williams. 

Yankee Stadium has been looking its age, but the grande dame looked magnificent last night and no other venue will be able to equal the shots of the City (okay, maybe the new Citibank Mets stadium will). 

I’m not a big fan of the singing of “God Bless America” or Josh Groban, but his rendition last night was amazing. 

Poor Dan Uggla. In the 10th inning, the Florida second bas

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