Well, my brother won an auction on ebay over the weekend for two seats in the upper deck for this years MLB All-Star Game in Houston. We'll be in section 413 on the map below. I don't know what row yet, but I'm sure we could have done a lot worse. As far as I know, these are just tickets for the game, not for the Home Run Derby or any of the other festivities.
There probably won't be too much to report between now and the game, but I'll use this thread to talk about anything that might come up concerning the game and will give a full report following the event.
― boldbury (boldbury), Monday, 7 June 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)
Yeah, that's weird. There's no 426 either. We're in section 413 row 8 though, so I'm not worried. My brother has talked to the seller and has his phone number and address, which is good because if the tickets are fake, we can
burn downTP his house.
― boldbury (boldbury), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)
three weeks pass...
Sorry for the delay, but here's my All-Star Game Report.
Monday night I made the 4 1/2 hour drive down to my brother's house south of Houston. As I neared the 610 Loop, I turned on the local sports-talk station to hear that the Home Run Derby had just ended and that Lance Berkman had made the finals against Miguel Tejada. I don't get too excited about the HR Derby, but it was still cool to have an Astro do so well in it.
My brother Corey had taken the day off Tuesday and we got up that morning, dropped my niece off at day care and headed to the golf course for a 9:52 tee time. It was already 95 degrees with crazy humidity. I don't think I stopped sweating all day long. After a dissapointing round, we swung back back by the house to get cleaned up. I caught the replay of the Berkman's huge second round in the HR Derby and then we headed into Houston for lunch. We decided on Goode Co. Barbecue and both had a chopped brisket sandwich on jalepeno-cheese bread. Good stuff. After lunch, it was time to move downtown for the game. To avoid traffic and parking downtown, we parked in a neighborhood near the Museum District and walked three blocks to catch the new Metro Rail. The train dropped us off 5 or 6 blocks from Minute Maid Park with about and hour and half left till game time, so we popped into a sports bar for a beer.
We got the ballpark just as the American League was finishing up batting practice. I guess if you watched the game on TV, there may not be much that I saw that you didn't from this point. Some guy won a million dollars by throwing five ball through a circular target in 30 seconds. The guy was all over the place, but somehow got it together in the last 10 seconds. Player introductions had a little more drama than normal due to the inclusion of Astros manager Jimy Williams as a National League coach. Just as I had feared, Jimy got booed unmercifully when they called his name. Personally, I think that's kinda classless at such an event, but with the unfortunate circumstances, I guess it was unavoidable.
Muhammed Ali got a pretty cheer when he came out to preside over the ceremonial first pitches, which were thrown out by two kids who had won a contest or done something special or something. I think you have to admire Ali for coming out to events like this in his condition. He really has a lot of trouble even walking. It looks like the only time he has any control over his shakes is when he is jukin' and jivin' and throwing punches, which he did several times, first with the kids throwing the pitches and then with Derek Jeter. However, I'm beginning to wonder if inviting him isn't a default move for event organizers who can't think of anybody else to invite who will spice things up.
Then the main even started. The crowd was completely keyed up to cheer for Clemens in the first inning and it didn't take long for that excitement to disappear. Double by Ichiro, triple by Pudge, laser beam dinger into the Crawford boxes by Manny. 3-0 AL. Then, an error by hometown starter Jeff Kent and moonshot bomb by Alfonso Soriano and the game was just about in the bag for the Americans. Whatever hopes we thought the NL had to get back in it were dashed when Mike Piazza struck out on two awful pitches after having a 3-0 count with two on in the bottom of the inning.
Two hometown heroes sparked a 3-run rally in the 4th when Kent and Carlos Beltran got on with singles and were driven in on hits but Edgar Renteria and Albert Pujols. It was 7-4 AL at this point and NL looked like it might make this a contest. That thought was destroyed 2 innings later when David Ortiz hit the longest home run I've ever witnessed in that ballpark. It hit off the facade of the outfield mezzanine deck directly above the patio restaurant in centerfield. The NL offense barely managed a whimper from there on out.
If you watched the game, I guess you saw the special Bud Loves Me Award or whatever they gave Clemens after the 7th inning. Roger looked pretty embarrassed by the whole thing considering his performance, but was still gave a gracious acceptance speech. A half inning before, they announced on the PA that there would be a special ceremony following the 7th. My brother predicted that they were going to retire J.R. Richards number. That would have been infinitey cooler and really would have made the game much more memorable. Not that I won't have good memories of the game. Even though the game was something of a stinker, this was probably my best shot at ever seeing an All-Star Game and I glad I took advantage of the opportunity. One difference I noticed over watching the ASG on TV is that in person, it feels, once the game is started, it feels like a real game, whereas on TV, it feels like an exhibition throughout the game. I attribute this to not having to hear the TV announcers fawn and drool over every batter that comes to the plate or every pitcher to toe the rubber in the game.
― boldbury (boldbury), Saturday, 17 July 2004 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)
Of what I saw on TV -- and I was asleep by the time the game ended -- the highlight of the whole shindig was the intro of the living 500 HR hitters before the Derby. Anyone know why McCovey was in a wheelchair?
Otherwise, even as a NL fan I took delight in Rajah's spanking, especially with his good friends Bush41 and "Bar" visible in their seats behind the plate. And can ya imagine, Mikey never went out to talk to him?
ENOUGH with the Ali appearances that are just capitalizing on his Olympic torch appearance, what, 8 years ago? Pure exploitation.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)
Personally, I would have liked to have seen a former Astro great or two handle the ceremonial first pitch. Nolan Ryan was in the building, but all they had him do was preside over the Taco Bell Throw-Five-Strikes-in-30-Seconds-and-Win-a-Million-Dollars Promotion. Heck, J.R. Richard would have gotten as big an ovation as Ali, if not bigger.
It would have been nice to somehow honor the '86 team, as well.
― boldbury (boldbury), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)