Exciting last All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium

by amyjudd | July 15, 2008 at 02:04 pm | 885 views | 4 comments

The game lasted for 4 hours and 50 minutes - making it the longest in 'All-Star' history.

I only watched a bit of it (mostly because I don't understand baseball) but it was a pretty exciting game - although my dad had to explain most of it!

I found the game-tying, two-run homer by J.D. Drew, which happened in the seventh inning, to be the most exciting of the game. You could practically feel the excitement through the TV.

I also really appreciated the fact that all the players, (save for a few 'more important ones') stuck around at the end of the game to greet the fans, talk to people and just enjoy the general atmosphere of playing the last All-Star Game in the original Yankee Stadium.

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Here is a link to a sport reporter's live blogging of the game - it's really interesting.

The Major League Baseball's All-Star Game will close down Sixth Avenue in New York today as this will be the first Big Apple All-Star Game in more than 30 years.

Three lanes of Sixth Avenue were closed after midnight for workers to lay out the massive red carpet between 49th and 59th streets, and the other three lanes will be shut down between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday. The city will also shut down 41st Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The parade, featuring more than 100 current and past baseball players, is expected to draw some one million spectators, will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., starting at 40th Street and traveling north before turning right on 58th Street to head into Central Park.

All streets are scheduled to reopen by 3:30 p.m.

Some entrances to the Times Square-42nd Street, 42nd Street-Bryant Park and 57th Street subway stations are closed from 9:30 a.m. until around 6 p.m., according to New York City Transit. During that period, uptown-bound M5, M6, M7 and BxM2 will run on Eighth Avenue instead of Sixth Avenue, making corresponding street stops on Eighth Avenue.

More than sixty current baseball players – including Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees – and 49 Hall of Fame members are slated to ride in the parade.

Organizers are expecting about 175,000 visitors to head to the game, the last to be played in the current Yankee Stadium.

"I catch myself actually looking up at seats where I sat as a kid and saying, 'Wow, that's pretty cool that, you know, I actually watched the game from there and now I'm down here and somebody else is watching us," Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan said.

Yankee Stadium has a long and rich history. It's the place where Lou Gehrig played his final game, where Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali boxed, and where the Pope celebrated his mass a few months ago.

But most of all, it's remembered for the 26 World Series titles the New York Yankees have won since the Stadium opened its doors in 1923.

No other team in baseball can match the tradition.

No other place can equal the aura.

An even bigger Yankee Stadium is being built next door, which will hold restaurants, bars and seats that could go for $2,500 a game - but many say that it won't be the same.

More than most years, sometimes jaded major leaguers seemed pumped up. After all, there never will be another All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. At least in this one.

"Something will happen in this game that people will probably talk about for a long time," Francona said.

The Home Run Derby also took place last night, which is played prior to the All-Star Game, and is a contest the top home run hitters in Major League Baseball take part in to see who can hit the most home runs. This year, Canada's Justin Morneau won.

Josh Hamilton thrilled the Yankee Stadium crowd with a jaw-dropping performance in the first round, and a storybook ending seemed inevitable. But Canada's Justin Morneau hung tough and upset Hamilton in last night's Home Run Derby, sending nearly 54,000 fans home disappointed.

Hamilton, the Texas Rangers outfielder, hit a record-breaking 28 homers in the first round and 35 in all. But Morneau, the Minnesota Twins first baseman from New Westminster, B. C., hit five to Hamilton's three in the last round, when the two finalists started from scratch.

"I was lucky they reset [the score] after the first round," Morneau said.

Morneau was the last player invited to participate. He was reluctant at first. Last year, he entered the all-star break with 24 homers. After participating in the Home Run Derby in San Francisco, he hit only seven the rest of the season.