Classic Midsummer Classics
As heard on the radio:
It's time for the baseball All Star break. This year's festivities are being hosted by Pittsburgh.
Some of us can still remember once upon a time when the All Star Game was really a big deal. It was in an era before free agency, corporately named ballparks; before inter-league play and when the network game of the week was often the only televised major league baseball to be seen. These guys never played each other and we never saw them play each other, excpet maybe for the World Series.
These days things are much different. There is the All Star game, but there's alot more too, like a home run derby and Fan Fest.
The lords at Major League Baseball have decreed that the winner of this exhibition game will determine which league gets home field in the World Series. At the risk of sounding too Bob Costa-like, we'll leave that for a separate discussion. Let's be diplomatic and just say that things are very different these days. I'm not quite sure if all the bells & whistles are working. Ratings continue to slide at the Midsummer Classic.
Despite the changes described above, I still tune in. There is so much history. How about Carl Hubbell striking five in a row in 1934 - but not just any five: Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin ? Do you know when the first night game occurred - it was earlier than you think - 1943 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The first Black players in 1949 ( Robinson, Newcombe & Campy); the dominance of the NL in the 1950's & 1960's (many attribute to the willingness of the Senior Circuit to embrace Black & Latin players before the A.L.)
Then there is the mammoth Reggie Jackson homer that hit the Tiger Stadium light tower in 1971, and now probably the most famous modern day All-Star memory - the famous Pete Rose home plate collision with catcher Ray Fosse that broke Fosse's collarbone (Fosse was never the same).
So as I watch, I'll watch and remember.
For more go to:
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/A/All_Star_Game.stm
It's time for the baseball All Star break. This year's festivities are being hosted by Pittsburgh.
Some of us can still remember once upon a time when the All Star Game was really a big deal. It was in an era before free agency, corporately named ballparks; before inter-league play and when the network game of the week was often the only televised major league baseball to be seen. These guys never played each other and we never saw them play each other, excpet maybe for the World Series.
These days things are much different. There is the All Star game, but there's alot more too, like a home run derby and Fan Fest.
The lords at Major League Baseball have decreed that the winner of this exhibition game will determine which league gets home field in the World Series. At the risk of sounding too Bob Costa-like, we'll leave that for a separate discussion. Let's be diplomatic and just say that things are very different these days. I'm not quite sure if all the bells & whistles are working. Ratings continue to slide at the Midsummer Classic.
Despite the changes described above, I still tune in. There is so much history. How about Carl Hubbell striking five in a row in 1934 - but not just any five: Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin ? Do you know when the first night game occurred - it was earlier than you think - 1943 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The first Black players in 1949 ( Robinson, Newcombe & Campy); the dominance of the NL in the 1950's & 1960's (many attribute to the willingness of the Senior Circuit to embrace Black & Latin players before the A.L.)
Then there is the mammoth Reggie Jackson homer that hit the Tiger Stadium light tower in 1971, and now probably the most famous modern day All-Star memory - the famous Pete Rose home plate collision with catcher Ray Fosse that broke Fosse's collarbone (Fosse was never the same).
So as I watch, I'll watch and remember.
For more go to:
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/A/All_Star_Game.stm
posted by eric model | 6:13 AM
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