Another all-star game comes and goes. Once again, I fall asleep before the game is over, although later I learn the contest actually finished in two hours. ... Waking up Wednesday morning, I was thrilled that my AJC sports section had the wrapup of the game, another American League victory... I'm always thrilled to see the all-stars standing along the third- and first-base foul lines, and the starters trotting out when their names are announced. However, I'm now unfamiliar with many of the players.
The other day, the Major League Baseball network broadcast the 1971 all-star game from old Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and I knew virtually every player. Back then, the National League was dominant, and the guys wore their pants high above their stirrups, which is how is should be. Last night, when the guys were running out, I noticed that everyone had his pants down over the shoes. ...One thrill from that 1971 game - seeing Roberto Clemente smash a home run. They showed Clemente's shot on instant replay, and color man Tony Kubek commented on how he hit it off his front foot. At contact, the right-handed Clemente had lifted his back foot off the ground, and all of his weight was on his front, left, foot, and he got much of his power from his arms and wrists, lashing Mickey Lolich's pitch into the upper right field deck. Kubek pointed out that Hank Aaron hit like that too....Harmon Killebrew also had a homer.
...As I was watching the 1971 all-star game, I kept switching over the the NFL Network, showing the 1979 Super Bowl game. Both were called by NBC star Curt Gowdy. I liked Curt all right, but he had some curious gaps in his calling of both games. On one sequence, the Pittsburgh Steelers called a running play, but then were inexplicably penalized. All these years later, I heard the whistle blow, but Gowdy apparently didn't. At last he said, "Pittsburgh penalized for delay of game," with no further explanation about why or how. It made no difference since Franco Harris scored on the next play on a 25-yard burst. Gowdy's voice hardly changed register.
...Back to the 2009 game, I thought the Obama appearance was curious. First, in the lockerroom meeting the players, Obama seemed to enjoy twisting the knife a little, pointing out to Derek Jeter how he was now one of the oldest players in the room, and razzing Albert Pujols for losing the home run contest to Prince Fielder. I was surprised the players didn't ask him about how much they are going to be taxed in the health plan, since they are undoubtedly among the highest earners in America, outside of the Goldman Sachs infield. Perhaps that's why Obama appeared a bit nervous ...I first thought Obama did a good job throwing out the first pitch, but each replay I see he looks wimpier. With his jeans and White Sox jacket, he looked like a high school kid, and his big lollipop to Pujols barely reached the plate...I guess he threw like a community organizer ... I'd love to see Michelle Obama throw one - I bet she has a good heater...For that matter, Sarah Palin could probably uncork a wild one also...And then, in the interview with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, Buck asked him if he could stay another half-inning. Obama turned and said his aides were giving him the wrap up sign. The most powerful man in the world can't stay for another half inning? Obviously, he's not as big a baseball fan as he was trying to make himself out to be, or he was uncomfortable even with Buck and McCarver's softball questions. In contrast, they couldn't get George W. Bush to shut up when he went to a game late in his adminstration and showed up in the press box. I remember him staying on and on, chattering about baseball and Little League games on the White House lawn and so forth. ...In the interview, Obama tried to forestall any criticism of his girlish throw by pointing out he never played organized baseball as a kid. Basketball guys do look awkward throwing a baseball, as Bob Ryan pointed out on PTI before the game.
...I enjoyed seeing Stan Musial, who looked alert and healthy at age 88. Musial, one of the great stars of the game from the late '40s through the early '60s, has been neglected, with more attention paid to guys like Joe DiMaggio, Aaron, Ted Williams Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, although Musial can stand with anyone as a hitter... One of my prized possessions is an autographed photo of "Stan the Man," and I saw him play in my first major league series. My father (a Cardinals fan dating back to the Gas House Gang of Dizzy Dean and Pepper Martin), grandfather and a neighbor and I drove to Houston from Baton Rouge to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the then Houston Colt .45s, who played in an unbearably hot outdoor stadium. That happened before I-10 was completed, so we made much of our trip along old U.S. 1, going through the notorious Opelousas, La., birthplace of Jim Bowie and the roost of famed sheriff Cat Doucet. As the ice in our soft drinks melted and we sweltered in the temporary stadium, which had no shade-making awnings, we could see the skeleton of the Astrodome rising next door...A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that that rainbow-hued stadium and been dissassembled and sent to Mexico, reassembled for a minor league team there ...A young and emerging Bob Gibson pitched on that stifling summer afternoon. Then we returned for the night half of a twi-night double header to see Stan the Man, with his curious corkscrew stance. I remember seeing him, as moths and mosquitos buzzed around lights, uncoil and rip a line drive... Gibson, along with Bruce Sutter, Lou Brock and Red Schoendist, were other old-time Cardinals who made an appearance at the all-star game. The greatest franchise in the game outside of the Yankees, and perhaps the Dodgers, the Cardinals could come up with many other stars. It's too bad that St. Louis has been in decline for about 100 years, although the old river city looked pretty good last night, at least in those overhead blimp shots....But hey, St. Louis' vaunted fans didn't rise in my estimation when they booed the lone Chicago Cubs representative. Rivalries are one thing, but why boo a guy who's achieved such an honor? Red Sox fans booing Yankee all-stars and Yankee fans booing Boston all-stars began this bush-league tradition. I always thought St. Louis fans were the knowledgeable type who would applaud an outstanding performance by an opposing pitcher, or clap for an all-star from a brother National League team.