MLB All Star Game: Making Memories

Memories light the corners of my mind.  Misty watercolor memories
of the way we were. Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind.  Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were.  -Barbara Streisand

Public Service Announcement:  Ahhh, the All Star game.  The Midsummer Classic.  Like my main man Terrence Mann always says, “We’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if we dipped ourselves in magic waters.  The memories will be so thick we’ll have to brush them away from our faces.”  What memories will this year’s All Star Game bring?  

1)  Ted Williams once said, “They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays.”  The Say Hey Kid said hey from the leadoff spot in an All Star Game for a record eight times.  Tonight, Ichiro will break that record.  But can Ichiro do what Willie did back in 1963?  Can he drive in two two runs?  Can he score two more?  Can he steal two bases.  Can he make the magnificent defensive catch late in the game to rob the other team of victory?  Maybe.  He’s already won one All Star Game MVP.  Maybe he can win another like Mays did back in 1969.  Say hey!   

2)  Reggie Jackson was the straw that stirred the Yankees’ drink.  He was one of the most celebrated figures in all of baseball.  The 1971 All Star Game was the was the moment that put him on the national landscape.  Batting in the third inning against Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, Jackson absolutely crushed a home run that would’ve cleared Tiger Stadium had it not been for a light transformer atop the rightfield roof.  The Natrural style.  Who will abosolutely crush one tonight?  Who will absolutely bum rush one tonight?  Make folks blush one tonight?  My money’s on the kid from Texas.  I would not be surprised if Josh Hamilton hits one clear to Catalina Island.

3)  He hustled his way all around the infield.  He hustled his way down to first.  He hustled in and out of the dugout.  You know what that makes him?  That’s right, Charlie Hustle.  Pete Rose hustled his way right through Ray Fosse and ended his career.  If there’s anybody with that much grit in this year’s All Star Game, it’s Joe Mauer.  True Grit.  Fill your hands, you son-of-a-bitch!

4)  In 1934, after allowing the first two men to reach base, King Carl Hubbell struck out Ruth, Gehrig and Foxx to end the first inning.  He then sat down Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to set the consecutive strikeout record.  In 1999, Pedro Martinez, took center stage.  He entered the game and proceded to strike out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire consecutively.  One short of the record.  If anyone can match what those two dudes done did, it’s Big Jon Lester, the stikenest outenest fother mucker in this here All Star Game.  Yippy ki yay!

5)  In 1941, Ted Williams called his All Star Game bomb the most meaningful bomb of his career.  In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Williams sauntered to the plate with his team trailing 5-4.  The Splendid Splinter hit a slider and deposited it into the right field seats for the winner winner chicken dinner.  Know this sports fans:  In RBI situations with the game on the line, Joey Votto is king.  Long live the King!  Joey Votto has now hit nine home runs in his last 85 at-bats in Late-Inning Pressure Situations.  His .429 batting average (15-for-35) in LIPS this season leads the National League (minimum: 25 LIPS AB).  Joey Votto has become the Paulie Cicero of baseball.  Big time at bat?  Fuck you, pay me.  Game on the line?  Fuck you, pay me.  Business bad?  Fuck you, pay me.  Oh, you had a fire?  Fuck you, pay me.  Place got hit by lightning, huh?  Fuck you, pay me!  And Bill James says there’s no such thing as clutch.

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

Need More? Ichiro,Joe Mauer,Joey Votto,Jon Lester,Josh Hamilton,MLB,Pedro Martinez,Pete Rose,Reggie Jackson,Ted Williams