The fourth and final All Star Game at the Stadium need its own introduction and cast of characters.
Cast of Characters:
Steve and The Tank
Kathleen
PermaGuest Outlaw Jack
Andrea and her brother Matt from Indiana (Andrea is a Yankee fan and Matt is a Cubs fan)
Steven: Eight year old Yankee fan there with his father
Patrick: Cubs fan from Chicago with his son
Vendor Steve
Linda via SMS Text
Robert in Tampa via Telephone
Cast of 55,000+ at the Stadium and millions watching on TV around the world
The build-up has been tremendous. There was to be a swan song for the Baseball Cathedral, Yankee Stadium.
All
the VIPs were there. There was a great reception for Tim Russert's
widow and son after they showed footage from the Yogi Berra Museum.
West Point cadets unfolded the American flag.
From
mlb.com
via PermaGuest Outlaw Jack "This year's All-Stars were introduced at
their fielding positions along with 49 of the 63 living Hall of
Famers." It was one legend after another. Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson,
and the list went on and on.
Mr. Steinbrenner presented the baseballs for the first pitch.
"Too many Red Sox!" Steven, an eight year behind us shouts about the current All Stars. Agreed I reply.
Steve,
Kathleen, PermaGuest Outlaw Jack, and myself sit together in the Tier.
Mega thanks to Steve for buying the tickets.
Andrea and her brother
Matt from Evansville,
Indiana, sit to my left. Andrea won the tickets after her drunk boss
promised them to her. Her brother owns her big time. She is raising
her three year old son right as a Yankee fan. Matt is a Cubs fan and
seems like a pretty good guy.
Andrea and I talk about Donnie Baseball who is from Evansville and gives back to the community. Too bad about Donnie's wife's drug and alcohol demons ended his career as he couldn't rehab his back properly as he had to go home to take care of their kids. This will probably cost him a possible chance at Cooperstown. As I tell my young Godchildren, nephew, and Steven, "Hugs, NOT drugs" are the answer. Drugs have a negative ripple effect through society of destroying lives and shattering dreams. For every Josh Hamilton, there are millions like Donnie's wife struggling from the downward spiral of drugs. Let's hope she gets her life back on track after their divorce. If that doesn't wake her up, nothing will.
After the ceremonies which took almost an hour, the first few innings were a let down.
The NL takes a 1-0 lead on a solo shot to right.
Ichiro strikes out. Haren is nasty. With
two on and two out, the Captain comes to the plate in the 5th. He
works a full count. Jeter grounds out to the athletic Haren. Darn it!
The Marlins Hanley Ramirez gets on first.
Chase Utley
singles him to third. Berkman's sacrifice fly to center field scores
Ramirez. NL 2 - AL 0. Pujols singles to center. Steve and I cheer
Chipper Jones' strikeout. Steve asks for DW to enter the game.
Matt Holliday pops up to end the top of the 6th inning.
Josh
Hamilton singles to center. I agree with Steve and Andrea on the
reform of the home run contest. The two players with the most home
runs after the first round goes to the finals. Crede pops up to
second. Hamilton steals second as Sizemore takes ball one. A foul
ball comes my way but it lands 15 rows in front of me. Sizemore
strikes out. Milton Bradley flys out to center.
The real Village People lead the "YMCA" before the top of the seventh. I didn't think they were still alive. Jack says they have become like Menudo with new performers replacing the old ones.
Vendor Steve stops by to say hi. He coincidentally vends in this section during the regular season.
Morneau
hits a stand up double in the bottom of the seventh. Kinsler
sacrifices him to third. Navarro strikes out. J.D. Drew hits a two
run home run. Yes, he is a Red Sox but playing for the American League.
Steve
diagnoses the Stadium as psychio. Yes, my name is The Tank and I am
bipolar. In that spirit, I boo Papelbum. How dare you challenge
for the closer role? Boo!
Jack and I lead the "Mariano" chant as Papelbum gives up a leadoff single to
Miguel Tejada
in the 8th. Tejada steals second and then goes to third on the wild
throw. Tejada scores on Gonzalez sacrifice fly to left center. NL 3 -
AL 2. Good job, Papelbum. "Face it Francona, Mariano is better!"
Steven says. I couldn't say it better.
Quentin flies out.
Guillen was out while I went to the restroom. Mets closer Billy Wagner
gives up a single to Sizemore with two outs. Longoria gets on.
"DirectTV
is the HD ace" is displayed on the blimp. Sizemore goes to second on
defensive indifference. Longoria doubles in Sizemore. NL 3 - AL 3 at
the end of the 8th.
Corey Hart comes up to "(I Wear) Sunglasses at Night". I love the song. I wonder if he gets royalties.
PermaGuest Outlaw Jack was right. K-Rod gets an appearance out before the greatest closer of all time in, Mariano Rivera.
To lead off the ninth,
Ian Kinsler
faces Dempster who has a weird disco move that he picked up from the
Village People as he rotates his glove. Kinsler strikes out. Navarro
strikes out.
I
may have to root for a Red Sox, J.D. Drew, who is on deck. This is the
ultimate conflict of interest. JD strikes out looking. This is why I
don't play fantasy baseball. I have enough stress in my life.
To the tenth we go.
The
first guy from the Pirates strikes out while I buy programs. Gotta
love the hustling vendor, one of Vendor Steve's colleagues.
Martin
singles to right. Tejada singles Martin to third. Uggla hits into a
double play to end the top of the tenth with a 3-3 tie. Whew! Andrea,
Steven, and I go crazy. Steve is dejected and Kathleen is tired.
Disco Stu gets his due.
Michael
Young hits an easy ball to Uggla who drops it. Steve is upset at him
for hitting into a double play. Quentin hits it to Uggla who drops it
again. Two errors in as many at bats. Runners at the corners with no
outs in the bottom of the tenth. Cook is pitching good but no help
from his defense. Guillen is intentionally walked. Steven disagrees
with it but Andrea and I explain the force out at home. Sizemore comes
up but grounds out to first who goes home for the force.
Longoria
is on Steven's Dad's fantasy team. Longoria grounds out to third.
Force again at home. Two out. Morneau comes up to Steven's cheer of
"Come on Home Run King!" Morneau grounds out short to first. So
close, darn it.
Time for All Star Game Match Game as we go to the top of the 11th.
Soria comes out to pitch the 11th. Gonzalez singles to left. DW
is up. Steven thinks the Mets are "stinky". Matt wants DW to take one
for the team. Steven's Dad is afraid it will ruin his perfect face.
DW strikes out. Guzman pops out. Corey "Sunglasses at Night" Hart
lines out to right to end the top of the 11th.
Stand
up to Cancer. You know The Tank is and will again this fall in the NYC
Marathon for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Ian
Kinsler comes up while Cook is still pitching. Kinsler singles to
right center. Navarro fakes a bunt. Cook tries to pick off Kinsler.
On the pitch out, Kinsler is nailed at second. Andrea curses
Francona's signs. Navarro walks. J.D. Drew is up. Conflict of
interest time. Drew singles to center. Young comes up with one out.
The Bleacher Cowbell rings in the distance and I yell the cheer to
educate my uneducated Tier brethren. Young singles to center but is
out at the plate. Darn it. I almost have a hear attack.
Valentin grounds out. Darn it!
NL loads the bases. Uggla strikes out on a 67 mile per hour curveball. Yeah! Go Uggla!
"Welcome to Jungle!". I agreed with Andrea that John Mellencamp is better than Guns N Roses.
Adrian Gonzalez faces Sherrill from the Orioles. Gonzalez strikes out. I have never so hard for an
Oriole since Cal Ripken.
Guillen hits it to deep left. We can't see it. He hits a stand up double.
Grady Sizemore hits to second. Guillen to third. Longoria strikes out. Two out. Morneau is intentionally walked. Kinsler grounds out.
To
the 13th we go. DW hits a shattered bat single to center. Guzman
tries to sacrifice DW to second but hits it to Sherrill who gets it the
force at second. Corey "Sunglasses at Night" Hart strikes out. I
noticed the Moon's profound shift as Ludwick approaches the plate.
Ludwick pops out.
"We can finish the game in the new stadium," Patrick the Cubs fan says as we go to the bottom of the 13th.
Highlights from the 2001 World Series are shown on the screen.
Marmol
comes up. Navarro grounds out to Uggla. Steve has taken Uggla off the
2009 All Star Ballot and deems him worse than Wagner. JD Drew gets on Uggla's third error.
Kathleen
threatens to leave at the end of the 13th.
JD Drew steals second as Young strikes out. Guillen
Steve
thinks someone has angered the baseball gods. Andrea thinks it is Mr.
Steinbrenner for building a new stadium. Steve agrees.
Guillen strikes out.
To
the 14th we go. Kathleen is true to her word and leaves as KISS'
classic "Rock and Roll All Night" blares over the Stadium speakers.
Steve proposes a popup contest.
McLouth almost hits a home run to right as Andrea thinks a reserve will win it. Martin hits one to JD Drew. Tejada is out.
Get up and Stretch! It's time for the 14th Inning Stretch.
The remaining Cast of Characters is really bonding for a group photo.
Steven says it's way past his bedtime. Lucky his Mom has fallen asleep and hasn't summoned him home. His Dad mentions going home and Steven won't have any of it.
Andrea still has lots of energy and is ready to dance the night away at 1:27 a.m. in the center right side.
Patrick proposes bringing in the retired Hall of Famers. Good idea!
Plan Z: Have the New York Philharmonic come in and play.
Philharmonic Review:
I texted Linda with the score and asked her about tonight's New York
Philharmonic Concert in Central Park. She said it was crowded but a
good show. I'll have to compare notes with her to the Brahms performance I attended in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1992. But, this
blog post is long enough already so I'll save it for another time.
Brandon Webb pitches to
Carlos Guillen.
Guillen hits a shot to Tejada, the steroid user. Sizemore is at bat
while Steve proposes having breakfast delivered. I want lox. Sizemore
strikes out. Longoria comes to the plate as we debate the title of
post. Longoria strikes out.
"Cotton Eye Joey" is up again.
To the 15th we go. Kazmir strikes
out Uggla. Gonzalez flies out to left. Steve wants DW to hit one out
to expel Mets demons. DW walks. Guzman grounds out to end the top of
the 15th.
Steve wants to start a count of "You've gotta be kidding me"! I don't think any supercomputer can count that high.
The Stadium displays the following soon to be future trivia question. (The final game time was 4 hours and 50 minutes.)
Morneau
singles to center. Kinsler is way ahead in the swing. Kinsler flies
out to a diving left fielder at 1:30 am. Navarro singles to center.
JD Drew is up as the "Let's Go Yankees" chant rings out. How ironic is
it? JD gets on. Michael Young is up. Is this it? Young flies to
right field, Morneau tags at third, and is safe at home plate. OMG!
It's over. We all hug and high five. The American League wins home
field in the World Series. My prediction of Yankees winning a Game 7
at the Stadium can still happen, God Willing!
If anyone ever doubts that Steve and The Tank are die hard fans who actually attend games unlike other bloggers/journalists, your evidence is below.
Mega thanks again to Steve for buying the tickets! We had several proposed titles for this post from "Billy Wagner screws up again" to E4 (Uggla) to Best Game Ever so I blended the last two.
Posted by an
exhilirated and exhausted Tank reporting live from the Baseball
Cathedral, Yankee Stadium, in the Boogie Down Bronx.