All-Star Festivities

It's been a wild week for the All-Star game. John worked for MLB as a volunteer, and got to see the Bon Jovi concert. We did the Home Run Derby on Monday and were at the Stadium since 3pm and tailgating, so about a good 8 hours were spent there that day. We went in for workouts and the batting cage practice, and weren't lucky with foul balls or homers, but we got to see a lot and have fun. Karl Ravech from ESPN heard me calling him at the Baseball Tonight set and waved, which was cool. John and I actually ended up in different sections for the Home Run Derby, but I was sitting with a good group of fans, a bunch of whom were doing over/unders on every batter and betting cash on all of them. John say me from the other side of the Stadium and took a picture of me looking for him with binoculars lol. He came over when he saw some free seats next to me, and we hung out the rest of the game. To say Josh Hamilton was incredible would be an understatement. The fans were going berserk in the Stadium. A good portion of the crowd was chanting, "Holy Shit!"over and over, which was quite funny. I was looking around with binoculars to see if A-Rod would hang out for the Home-Run Derby he should have been in, and he was nowhere to be found. I guess I'd be too ashamed to hang out too.

The next day, we were planning to attend the FanFest first, and then the parade, but we ended up just going to the parade, since the Fanfest would be pretty empty while the parade was going on, and not much was going on there in the hours between the end of the parade and the All-Star game. We had a spot one block from where it started, and got to see part of a nice modern jazz trio perform in Grace Plaza on 43rd and 6th. The parade was ok, though not as exciting as I thought it would be. The one thing that really got me mad was Papelbon's comments about how he should close instead of Mariano. The crowd booed Papelbon as he was driven by in the Chevy Tahoes that were being used, and he and his pregnant wife just waved and smiled even more. I yelled at him that he wouldn't be closing that night. Later on, he tells the media how he was fearful for his wife. I commented on Fox Sports the following about the article:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8348924/Papelbon-unhappy-with-red-carpet-treatment
The following is what I wrote if You don't want to click the link.

I was at the parade, and when people started booing Papelbon, his wife and him started waving and smiling even more, like they enjoyed it. When you make a stupid comment about closing in front of Mariano, then take it back half-heartedly, and decide to participate in a parade in a your arch-rival's city, you should expect to be booed. There were thousands of police and MLB personnel around. For Papelbon to intimate that him and his wife was in danger is just plain ludicrous. I saw 2 people get arrested right in front of my eyes, and a police officer PUSH 2 little kids back that rushed one of the trucks for an autograph. What a classless individual. You would NEVER see Mariano think he should close instead of Papelbon if this was at Fenway.


It was nice to see Jeter, who looked over at me and smiled when I yelled his name. I got Ryne Sandberg to look over and wave too, since I was sporting a Cubs jersey for the day. I had figured since I was at Fanfest, it would be ok for once to wear another jersey, since tons of toher people would be wearing other teams, and I have a really nice Cubbies jersey I picked up for real cheap lol. After about an hour and a half, John thought the parade was over, and I was like, "No, they haven't even done the NL starters yet." He was afraid that he wouldn't have enough juice in his camera for the All-Star Game, since he had just been snapping away the whole time. So we decided to adjourn and find a bar. We ended up at Eamonn's which is a few blocks away from Grand Central, and had some great mini-burgers and fries, and 2 snifters of The Macallan 18-year, which was just divine. I took the train back home to meet my fraternity brothers to watch the game in another bar (lol) and John headed off to the Stadium. I had a great time watching the game, though I will admit to sleeping during the commercials once the 12th inning started up. After the game, I got to take a nice 20-min nap in the car and picked John's ass up from the Subway, and headed home.

It took all of yesterday to recover, moreso since I had already spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday partying. My body definitely needed the rest and detoxing. =p

I have tons more to write, and maybe I'll get some more down later on, but for now my last thoughts are that:
1. That was the best All-Star game I have watched or at least can remember.
2. NYC was the perfect place for it this year, especially since it's the Stadium's last year.
3. Lol the Mets must have felt so second-rate this week, not even 1 event at their place, which could have been easily arranged by MLB.
4. Alex Rodriguez is the biggest $300 million dollar douchebag. He showed about the same class, or lack thereof, as Papelbon, by leaving at the end of the 3rd inning. It's one thing if you're in another city, but he was in his home stadium, and the leading vote-getter. I sincerely hope no one votes him in next year. If he didn't want to come, he shoulda just declined and given up the spot to someone who would actually enjoy the experience. What a dick.