1999 All-Star Game (Fenway Park) | #MLBAtHome

What is it about baseball that inspires us to dream of the century coming to an end? Again we return to baseball, the great American

game

, in April 1912, a ship called Titanic sank and a stadium called Fenway opened its doors for the first time in 1933, the first of all. -The

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was played and with surprising perfection the baby hit the first home run of the game once again. It's summer in the United States and with its warmth comes the summer classic in the

park

whose unique character makes it so special and tonight the legends of the game will do it.

Come, hey, is this heaven, no, it's Iowa, a cornfield that was transformed into a field of dreams, allowed America to believe again in the magic of baseball and tonight, for the love of the game, the This country's imagination will once again be captured by all players of the game. Today and for its past history, it is the American League and the National League playing in the All-Star Game, a game among the best in baseball, the beauty of baseball is marked by its players, from the baby to the mighty Mac, from the splendid splinter to nomar, from say hey to sammy no other night baseball

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shyness brilliantly the perfect nine on nine a piece of wood and some leather these are the tools of your trade people will always come back to baseball they call it our hobby but more appropriately is our present and our future in this last summer of the 20th century tonight's all-star game will be played beneath Boston's giant green monster, it simply wouldn't be right anywhere else, ladies and gentlemen, to celebrate this, the last all-star game of the 20th century, now featuring the greatest collection of baseball talent ever assembled on a baseball field ladies and gentlemen centuries two previous commissioners carlton fisk tom seaver 35,000 rabbits fans george brett tonight baseball's never-ending menace the 20th century raleigh joe morgan fingers that thread tied neatly in what amounts to an all-time all-star game good night from Fenway Park as chills run through everyone in this house this is the hit pre-all-star game show along to steve lyons i'm keith olbermann and now we're multiplying it many times over it's a great game and a great place to have it with an epic moment here keith i played in this city and when you play well in front of these fans they are the best fans in the country , when you play poorly in front of them they are the most knowledgeable fans in the country, what they know most painfully is the fact that they have not been able to cheer on a winner for 80 years, they are expecting great baseball and that is what we will give them this night with the best. what baseball has to offer what i'm waiting for your own son here nomar garcia parr the torch has been passed from mo vaughn when i run onto this field the place will go crazy they appreciate grey's baseball that's what this is going to give them night Omar is the man of the moment at Fenway Park, but most of the history of this place, most of the nostalgia involves one man, Ted Williams, who is surprisingly unsentimental about this ball

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and his own era , except for two men he considers the best. of all time, I really believe that the two players who stand alone in our class and I must say they are Joe Dimaggio and Wooly Mays Boy, they are both great hitters, magic was the best of the two, hitting the ball in the maze could have made a swing. a little harder and I missed a little more and I hit a few more home runs, but I don't know how you can be better than maggio keith ted, that's what Boston is all about, he's throwing out the ceremonial first pitch tonight, I wonder if wearing a baseball cap from Boston, whether or not he's going to take it off and give it to the fans because he never did when he played, it's going to be a great moment to see, as we hope, a lot of them tonight, Willie Mays is here with a baseball cap and a fisk who made the 1975 Red Sox team heroes the introduction of Mastercard all the players of the next century joe buck tim mcgarvey friendly bob will take it after these messages and a few words from your local fox station welcome back to the hit video everyone -pre-game all-star show presented by blockbuster video welcome back to Fenway Park welcome back to a very special mid-summer classic I'm joe buck accompanied by my partners tim mccarver and bob brentley we're coming to our game tonight Just a moment, but right now to introduce you to some of the baseball stars of the ages, we now bring you to Academy Award-winning actor, director and baseball fan, Kevin Costner.

It is an honor for me to be part of this great gathering of these players. They represent the greatest amount of talent ever assembled on a baseball field and now our all-century pitchers are four-time Cy Young Award winners, the all-time strikeout king among left-handed pitchers, Steve Carlton, is the only five-time saw young award winner. and struck out 20 batters in a game on two separate occasions roger clemens one of the most dominant closers in the game won the cy young and mvp awards in 1990 dennis eckersley pitched his first major league game at age 17 and was the hardest pitcher of his generation Bob Feller, the first modern relief ace who saved six World Series games for the Oakland Athletics in the early 1970s, Raleigh Fingers, exemplified competitiveness and consistency and won seven consecutive series games World Cup for the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Bob Gibson won more games. in the 1960s than any other pitcher and is the pride of the Dominican Republic Juan Marshall led the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1950 pennant and was the ace of his staff for more than a decade Robin Roberts was the ace of the champion's miracle 1969 World Cup three-time I'm sorry young award winner Tom Siever won 20 or more games 13 times and is the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Warren Spahn and now our catcher of the century is a hero to Red Sox fans for his traumatic home run. in the 1975 world series he holds the all-time record for james cott carlton, this is the first baseman of the entire century, he was the epitome of pure power and hit more home runs than any American league player in history except Babe Ruth Harman Killebrew, one of the game's most consistent switch hitters, is one of only three players with more than 500 home runs and 3,000 hits.

Eddie Murray, the all-century second baseman, is the all-time record holder for home runs. and games played at second base won. back-to-back mvp awards in 1975 and 1976 as a member of cincinnati's big red machine joe morgan the all-century third baseman here tonight the only player in major league history to win batting titles in three decades led the kansas city ​​royals to their only world series championship in 1985

1999

hall of famer george pratt this 1993 world series most valuable player ranks eighth on the all-time hits list and is the only player to the history of the world series who has five hits in a game paul molotar a clutch hitter who set the modern standard of defensive excellence by which all third basemen are judged the 16-time gold glove winner brooks robinson possessed a combination without precedents of power, defensive ability and speed that made him a three-time one of the game's all-time great third basemen MVP and ten-time Mike Schmidt Gold Glove winner and are now shortstops of the century.

Delighted Cub fans with his 512 home runs, consistent fielding and joyful approach to the game, two-time Most Valuable Player Ernie Gracias considered the greatest defensive shortstop of all time. favorite won 13 gold gloves 12-time all-star choice ozzie smith had more hits in the 1980s than any other player and won most valuable player at two different positions

1999

hall of famer robin yao our equipment suppliers of the entire century are exceptional all-around player, he was a 24-time All-Star and became baseball's all-time home run king 25 years ago this season. Hank Aaron a devastating force in the base pass. He was the best base runner of his time and one of the greatest. in history lou ross redefined the role of the leadoff hitter and is the only player in history with more than a thousand stolen bases in his career ricky henderson known as mr october for his heroic acts in the world series in new york and oakland was one of baseball players top power hitters and clutch players reggie jackson this 10 time gold glove winner an 18 time all-star for the detroit tigers was one of the most durable and consistent players of his time the k line led the national league in home runs in his seven of his ten major league seasons and his home run ratio is second only to babe ruth ralph keiner the giants say hello kids, he played in 24 all star games, four world series and won 11 gold gloves for his electrifying play in center field Willie Mays, this three-time Most Valuable Player and 24-time All-Star for the Saint Louis Cardinals, was among the best offensive players of the 1940s and 1950s.

Stan, the man usual, the only man to be named most valuable. A player in both leagues, he won the Triple Crown in 1966 and went on to manage the Indian Giants and Orioles. Frank Robinson was the last player to win the Triple Crown and is the only player in the American League with more than 3,000 hits and 400 at home. run the legend of the red sox paul gasprinsky ladies and gentlemen you are all players of the century these players helped make the game this game helped make these men smile like minor leaguers on a special night here in boston a very special performance by come, but now let's public address announcer ed brickley ladies and gentlemen boys and girls now let's meet the stars of the 1999 national and american league, as the latest edition of the stars gather on the baselines as they prepare, the we brought another member of our broadcast team tom brennaman waiting with baseball commissioner bud selig joe thank you, thank you very much and commissioner steele the magical moments here when the 41 living legends are introduced and now you have the destiny of trying to decide to narrow down that list For the old sensory equipment, how are you going to do it so well?

We have compiled the list of experts. We are down to 100 players. Now fans will vote until September. We have done it by position. It will be difficult. but I have faith that the fans will do it and it's so exciting that I can't express how emotional this whole day has been for those of us who love the history of the game and seeing these people here and understanding what they've done. made for baseball and in every way, this has been an extraordinary experience and now we will vote to see who the top 25 are and Tom to make sure that everything, if there is any inequality, we will add five players later.

So there will be 30. But I'm really looking forward to the vote. I think it's going to be fantastic and you have 100 players here and it's hard to pick them, but it's been a great experience and before I let you go. I guess tim mccarver and bob brinley will be on the commissioner of the all century team i will tell you we will probably let you go now we are running out of time without a doubt let's go to ed brickley the public address announcer and now ladies and gentlemen the coaches and national league reserves all stars coaches are from the chicago cubs their manager jim rigelman from the cincinnati reds their manager jack mckeon and now the national league reserves of the arizona diamondbacks outfielder luis gonzalez and pitcher randy johnson of the atlanta braves outfielder brian jordan and pitcher kevin millwood of the cincinnati reds first baseman sean casey and pitcher scott williamson of the florida marlins shortstop alex gonzalez of the houston astros pitcher mike hampton pitcher billy wagner and pitcher josé lima of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Gary Sheffield of the Milwaukee Brewers catcher Dave Nilsson of the Montreal Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero of the Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal and pitcher Paul Bird of the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman in the spring of the St.

Louis Cardinal San Diego Padres pitcher Ken Barton Field elected to start but unable to play due to injury All-Century outfielder and player Tony Quinn pitcher Andy Ashby and pitcher Trevor Hoffman and San Francisco Giants second baseman Jeff Kent and Now let's meet the coaches and reserves of the stars of the American League. The coaches are from the Boston Red Sox, their manager Jimmy Williams and from the Chicago White Sox, their manager Jerry Manuel and now the star reserves of the American League from Los Angeles. from Anaheim, pitcher Troy Percival of the Baltimore Orioles, outfielder Harold Baines, outfielder B.J and pitcher Mike Mussina and Boston Red Sox second baseman Jose Offerman and Chicago White Sox outfielder Maglio Ordóñez of Cleveland Indian shortstop Omar Vizquel and Pitcher Charles Nagy of the Detroit Tigers Catcher Brad of the Kansas City Royals Pitcher Jose Rosado of the Minnesota Twins Infielder Ron Coomer of the New York Yankees Pitcher Davidand Oakland Athletics first baseman outfielder Bernie Williams and Tampa Bay Devils pitcher Roberto Hernandez and Texas Rangers pitcher John Wetland and pitcher Jeff Zimmerman and Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Tony Fernandez. and outfielder Sean Green and now ladies and gentlemen the manager and the starting lineup of the San Diego Padres National League manager Bruce Bocce Banning playing first short stars for the Cincinnati Reds Barry Larkin batting second playing in right field for the colorado rockies larry walker bets third playing in center field for the chicago cubs sammy sosa fourth playing at first base an all-century player for the saint louis cardinals mark maguire batting fifth playing at third base for the Diamondbacks arizona matt williams banning six houston stars designated hitter jeff bagwell banning new york mets seventh catcher mike piazza hitting eight playing left field for milwaukee brewers jeremy burnett hitting ninth playing second base of theArizona Diamondbacks jay bell and tonight's starting pitcher warming up in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen kurt schilling and now the manager and the American League starting lineups of the new york yankees manager joe torre and now the tonight's starting lineup prohibiting playing first in left field from the Cleveland Indians Kenny Lofton betting as second shortstop for the Boston Red Sox Nomar García batting third playing in center field an all-century player for the Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey Jr playing right field for the Cleveland Indians Minnie Remirez betting fifth playing first base for the Cleveland Indians Jim Tomy betting sixth playing third base an all-century player for the Baltimore Orioles ripken banning seven the designated hitter of the texas rangers raphael palmero texas rangers catcher ivan rodriguez hitting nine playing second base for the cleveland indians roberto and pitching for the american league warm up in the bullpen of the boston red sox pedro martinez president and stars from the past tonight in boston we will return to

fenway

park with the national anthem and the reintroduction to this

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crowd of one of the best to ever play the game ted williams throws out the first pitch tonight back in boston after these welcome messages back to the hit pregame star video show presented by the hit video ladies and gentlemen, please continue to stand to sing our national anthem in honor of the United States.

Please welcome Dorchester, Massachusetts native, Grammy-winning epic recording artist Donna Summer, oh, say, can you see in the beginnings of dawn what we so proudly greet the last twilight whose broad swathes and bright stars and rocket night that our black was still? there, oh, it says that, with sequins, oh, ladies and gentlemen, he wore the uniform of the Red Sox for 22 years he wore the uniform of the United States Marines for four and a half more years. He owned left field in this very stadium. He was the last man to bat. 400 in one season and he did it 58 years ago, he hit 521 home runs, including one in his last at bat, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the greatest hitter who ever lived, the number nine in the hall of fame, the legend from baseball, ted williams, so breakdown, hello star.

The teams thank the legends of this game. Today's stars rally around one of the greatest to ever play the game and one of the greatest to ever serve his country. We try our best and hope that this moment translates into television. that we're coming here at Fenway Park in this 70th mid-summer classic just a moment ted williams my man right here you'll be everywhere we'll throw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight you find yourself asking can't this go? forever to no one in particular, I personally hope that's the case because I don't know if I can speak, what a moment to see someone like Mike Piazza, who was told at a very young age by Ted Williams when he was 16 when he was introduced that He's going to be a player from the Major Leagues after seeing his swing.

Williams was right and here tonight Mike Piazza is available to help celebrate one of the greatest players of all time. He is a star among the stars and on a night like this that says a lot. Hitting Mark Maguire. on the left shoulder ted williams will throw the ceremonial first pitch tonight he will throw it to carlton fisk i know, i think kyle yaski will be there too a celebration here tonight in boston with the help of tony gwynn where is he? congratulations to ted williams congratulations to The baseball game here tonight, a wonderful July night in Boston, a cool and pleasant atmosphere and a moment that none of us will probably forget.

We'll be back with the first pitch, the best the American league has to offer against the best in the national league. the league has to offer in no time welcome back to Fenway Park and welcome back to our broadcast booth I'm joe buck joined by my partners here tonight tim mccarver bob brentley great preparation for tonight's game well worth every minute tim mccarver I can't I can't help but ask you as we were sitting here watching you, were you so involved with at least two of those guys in racing, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, what moved you as you watched them being introduced here tonight, well, just a Lots of memories, most of them good. bob gibson series 67 here against the boston red sox and steve carlton's remarkable career the winner of 329 games you're the analyst here breaks down tonight's game what you expect to see in an all-star game it's usually hard to tell going in Well, there are a lot of sluggers here tonight and obviously a very attractive green monster, but keep in mind that these sluggers and these players will be facing the number one starters and relievers of their respective teams also since 1933, the first year of the All-Star Game . game, the composite average is only 246.

So, in my opinion, I expect to see a low-scoring ballgame, which would be contrary to everything we've seen during the 1999 season. We've seen a lot of rookies around here and look these. Major league players walk around here like little kids, well, 24 stars for the first time this year, seven in the American League, 17 in the National League and of the 17 in the National League, seven are pitchers. Bruce Bocce told us in our meeting today that he plans to use at least five of those first-time pitchers, so if the butterflies are not intangible in this game, perhaps a slight advantage for the American League, we prepare for baseball here at Fenway Park, hometown starter Pedro Martinez preparing to go into the shadow of green monster baseball after this, what a perfect way to end this millennium with an all-star game here at Fenway Park built in 1912.

First, pitch a fiery fastball that misses and moves away from local starter Pedro Martínez, a 15-game winner, the only one. Winner of 15 games in the major leagues to this point a no-strike ball for barry larkin larkin is involved in his 10th all-star game and will have to go up another level to catch up with that fastball from martínez a ball a strike and then when the hitters They decide to speed up, Martínez throws the changeup like this, missing two balls low and far and a strike and it's just not an average changeup, it's probably the best changeup of any pitcher in the major leagues today with two and a larkin took it by the way. outside corner two balls two strikes from mid 80's to mid 90's on that fastball and you look at the 15 game winner with that league leading 2.10 era three complete games for pedro martínez scoring very late still two and two see the scouting report on pedro martinez great movement on the fastball we have seen that it already works on both sides of the plate we have seen the big change with the arm action he also has a curveball i mean, this is not a fair guy with three top pitches at his disposal still two and two leadoff hitter barry larkin who will come out of the game to keep two balls two strikes while pedro speeds him up to 97 miles per hour he will be followed by larry walker and then sami sosa as This crowd settles in what It's already been an emotional night here at Fenway Park again, making it 2-2 for Larkin opening and botching a nasty pitch to stay there.

National League pitchers are familiar with this particular Barry Larkin dropback action. count fouled out on a lot of tough pitches and stayed alive waiting for the pitcher to make a mistake bruce bochy a quick look at the national league manager looking at a 35 year old shortstop and barry larkin still one of the best games he achieved it with a change and a good start for pedro martinez in the american league once again the starting lineup of the national league sponsored by budweiser here tonight barry larkin you know that larry walker returns to second and right-hander sami sosa bats third and the center mark maguire cleans up at first base with matt williams at third the dh jeff bagwell mike piazza catching jeremy burnett's first all-star game for left fielder he of the milwaukee brewers and jay bell will bat like a gentleman at second base and we take a look at AL defense kenny lofton in left field ken griffey jr center fielder manny ramirez in right field cal ripken jr at third shortstop nomar garciaparra home favorite roberto alamar at second jim tomy and yvonne rodriguez behind the plate pretty good baseball club is not so bad no larry walker takes a strike from pedro martinez one out to nobody in the first inning and that's force two in larry walker larry walker the mvp of the national league in 1997. last year's batting champion in the national league 32 year old outfielder is at the best average of 382 in the major leagues at this point one ball two strikes joe torre manager of the yankees in charge of selecting the reserves and pitchers for this goodbye larry walker see you later pretty good start For Pedro Martinez, this is what he dreamed about last night when he went to bed, first the outside corner fastball to Barry Larkin and now a 97 mile per hour fastball that cuts the outside corner to Larry Walker.

You may remember that in the scouting report we said that he worked the fastball on both sides of the plate and that is not so No matter how easy it may seem for a pitcher whose fastball tends to roll back towards the center of the plate, tonight's broadcast also available in Spanish using the Sap button on your television how proud you must be right now in the Dominican Republic two of your favorite sons connecting here in the all-star game Sami Sosa leading the major leagues with 32 home runs, he hit 66 a year ago facing Pedro martínez leaning back from the strike a first curve of the night for martínez and it was wicked, that's a good old jelly legs with knee pads in the style of sammy sosa whoa and a ball, a strike, 96 mile per hour fastball that hit him lack to soda, how would you like to hit 66 home runs and not even lead your league man behind him in tonight's lineup? el campo's mark maguire hits 70. it's 2-1 and pedro martínez is in position to strike out the team here in the first pedro martínez used to pitch for the montreal expos how many national league hitters are thinking right now boy, me glad he's gone to mlb home is brought to you by roman, men's digital health clinic and proud partner of major league baseball, we'll talk about the history of fenway park as we go here this afternoon, kurt schilling is on the mound of the national league, another look at the americans starting lineup of the league sponsored by budweiser the american league begins with kenny lofton in left field no mar garcía for shortstop here in boston then ken griffey jr hits third manny ramírez has 96 runs clean and right with jim tomey at first cal rivkin jr at third the designated hitter is rafael palmeiro first start for him yvonne rodriguez catching roberto alamar is at second base batting night to look at the league's defense national jeremy burnitz in left field sammy sosa playing center in this all-star game larry walker in right matt williams barry larkin j bell mark maguire around the infield curt schilling pitching and mike piazza behind the plate and those two will try to find a way to retire to kenny lofton to start the bottom of the first and that's not a bad start a blazing fastball for strike one of kenny lofton's numbers in 1999 95 miles per hour from schilling and this is one of the best right-handers in the league national curt chilling with seven complete games in the first half of the season after completing 15 games last year he is the definition of a workhorse, third all-star game for curt schilling, his first start at owen two loft on a swing late and we look at curt schilling's scouting report, over 300 strikeouts in the last twoyears, that's every year, top power guy, heavy fastball, tough cutter. similar to a slider he still gets to the late splitter with two strikes like that and lofton wouldn't go after him one ball two strikes on deck nomar garciaparra in the starting lineup thanks to internet voting pedro martinez perfect start for him on the mound one ball two strikes first ball in play maguire feeds shilling a run to the bag and schilling didn't win lofton with that great speed is up and running with an infield single that's the advantage of the american league over the national league the speed of the american league and Look for them to use that speed once they get along with Kenny Lofton outpacing Schilling in the pocket.

Those are the kind of plays you can see mistakes on during an all-star game because you have guys that don't play together all year. That's a routine play for a pitcher and first baseman who have played together all season. Big ovation for Garcíaparra. He talked about Internet voting last voting week. Look at Derek Jeter Garcia. Unemployment fell by about 30,000 votes. They tabulated the Internet. he votes his way up and ends up winning that short stop position for this all-star game by 20,000 votes over Derek Jeter and it wasn't a surprise to any of us the way Derek Jeter handled that situation very well and was happy. at least this is what he said Garcia Para ended up starting here in his home stadium and I think he means it, I think he means it too, both excellent short stops, there's no doubt about it, either of them could have started this game and you. wouldn't have gotten too many complaints outside of their home stadiums, lofton is running and garciaparra hits it deep to the right walker to make a good catch and get back to first as lofton left, this is the first game garciapara has played in almost two weeks prohibiting the day off yesterday joey told us before the game that he will play two innings one back probably but two ends and then he will allow garciapara to take the field and then he will replace him with derrick jeter and garciaparo will leave the field with the position he deserves in this stadium , this is the type of stadium that defines asymmetric dimensions for a one-to-one stadium.

Ken Griffey Jr. stands up, will he shoot on that side of right field or try to go the opposite direction. to the left a much shorter shot but you have to go under to get over the green monster here at Fenway which was a García Parra drive that in most stadiums at least would have been against the wall. Loftin runs again and is fouled by Griffey. Well, all these guys are stars. on the field tonight, but some stars are more than all stars ken griffey jr 476 batting average of all stars of all time, you can see where he ranks on the all-time list for the seventh time ken griffey jr is the leading vote-getter in Baseball is headed to the all-star game and for him it's 10th and his career, which somehow is just beginning one on one and Griffey fouls out here, force two and Joe, you talked about Lyft, no one with the possible exception of Mark Maguire.

It has the elevation of Ken Griffey Jr. It starts high and inside means he keeps his hands very high and even when he fouls the ball, you can see that tremendous elevation. There's more to a power hitter than just lifting power. Very, very important, rather close. first and maguire had to stretch to get that schilling shot still one and two talk about a guy like ken griffey jr the youngest in the history of this game to reach 350 home runs in his career who ruins two balls two strikes starts to accumulate griffey numbers compete against the best who have ever played this game and there he is the youngest in 350 home runs in 28 years 308 days faster than fox medal matthews otton aaron one by one griffey in front takes a foul we understand that there is a large contingent watching In Seattle, at the new Safeco field that will open in the second half of the season, there will be a lot of talk about the Safeco field.

It looks like a beautiful facility, but the early comeback of that stadium is that the ball just doesn't get there. with that strong sea air over the outside corner griffey is gone and it's one on two when griffy is caught watching he brings in manny ramirez and we take him back to manny ramirez in high school he graduated from george washington high school in manhattan in 1991 that The year he was named New York City Public Schools Player of the Year and was a first-round pick of the Indians in the 1991 draft, you don't have to be an expert scout to look at those tools and realize that you have a stud on your hands. but if you look at those photos and see Manny Ramirez wearing an Oakland A's cap, I have to believe Art Howe's mouth is watering somewhere right now, the same high school mannerisms he has as a pro player one against two and the strength of a shilling hitting 96. on the radar points to manny ramírez, the third highest total in the All-Star break with respect to rbis, he has driven 96 in the first half, so to speak, to the cleveland indians, his teammate kenny lofton at first with two outs, another control and greenberg did not make the all-star team in 1935 with 35 home runs and 103 runs juan gonzalez 101 a year ago ramírez goes out of the way of a pitch just inside a ball a strike very quiet crowd here in the first inning i think everyone is having to recharge their batteries a little i don't think kenny lofton is going to be quieter at first base he's waited long enough a ball a strike and ramirez take ball two one thing about the running game is yvonne rodriguez of the american league can neutralize the running game in fact the national league has stolen only two bases from rodríguez in the last seven years the american league had five stolen bases a record in last year's all-star game at a time when the national league was considered the race league they stole 23 of 28 in a span of 11 years but the budget stopped there goes lofton again the throw by piazza 28 stolen base for kenny lofton lofton in the hand he first saw lou brock when they introduced the legends he would never have done this and jay Campana, the second baseman of the Arizona Diamondbacks tries to kneel on Kenny Lofton very close, there you will see him go down with his left knee trying of blocking second base, like a catcher blocking Lofton's plate in the bag there and calling safe. at second base that's something you would never do if a runner comes in feet first he never lowers that knee there he wouldn't raise it again under the same conditions three balls in a strike now on the guy ramírez who drives in 96 runs in the first half of the season i'm used to this type of putting a runner on second two out and takes a borderline pitch for a strike three balls two strikes another indian jim tomy waiting on deck later in the lineup roberto alamar batting ninth looks like a road game from the indians here at Fenway from the catcher cam mike piazza's mask reaching out to make that pitch to ramirez and a two out walk a couple of managers talking about it there jim ringleman of the chicago police talking to bruce bochy and here it is jim tomy Not amazing numbers, but still worthy of All-Star consideration and a guy who is willing to do whatever it takes for his team as he returns to third base after injury, knee injury by Travis Fryman, Tommy with two on two off Kenny. lofton at second for the indians manny ramírez at first for the indians and tomy trying to bring him home and it was the cleveland indians last year that ended the red sox season with a victory in this stadium as a visitor dangerous at bat for schilling here tomy a good hitter with a high fastball in center field to get on base that will bring lofton to the plate the american league is ahead as the cleveland indians combine for a run in the first inning here at fenway a hit by lofton one walk to ramírez and tomi's two RBI single that was a high fastball right up the tube, he didn't hit it hard, but it's good enough.

Tommy is not the traditional sweet swinging lefty, as you can see from that shot, he just opens up, gets up and tries. to murder the ball that time he got the top of the fastball lined up toward center field with the toe of his left foot and the heel of his right foot and that brings cal ripken jr for his 17th all star game as he lines up a hit to right field here comes ramírez is kicked to the right by walker it's two and nothing first pitch in the american league swinging and ripken gets an RBI single to right-hander cal ripken the most valuable player in 1991 when the all-star game was played in Toronto, as Larry Walker shook him momentarily, it probably would have been a play at the plate and Larry clearly came up with it, that seems to be the plan of attack for both offenses in this ball game, I attacked these pitchers early in the game, no I left them.

You get to those devastating pitches, who gets a chance to start in the All-Star game for the first time and you see those numbers that are overwhelming, a 355 average, 22 home runs, 76 runs, he's in his 30s and he's getting better. He was one of the most consistent hitters that baseball has had during the 90's Jotori with Rafael Palmeiro's team when Jose Canseco could not attend undergoing back surgery for a bulging disc he needed a dh and who better to call and give this boy finally had the opportunity to start harold baines on the american league roster and palmeiro was inserted into the role of designated hitter a ball a strike from schiller reaching him maguire makes the play and the out easy at first but the damage already it's done two runs for the american league mark maguire will open in the second inning for the national league back to work pedro martinez we welcome you back to fenway park here in boston we move on to the second inning american league comes with two runs in the first inning rbis by tomi and ripken and mark maguire take steps in a single season home run king takes a breaking ball low and away for ball one 28 home runs in this year's break a year ago he was 37 at this point a little shudder there a ball one hit another breaking ball for mark maguire pedro martinez struck out three in the first inning the first time the first three batters have gotten strikes to open an all-star game wow stay tuned pedro doesn't look like he's losing anything four in a row and like matt williams walks to the plate we take you back to 1934. carl hubbell of the new york giant struck out babe ruth lou gehrig jimmy fox al simmons and joe cronin in order in the first two innings of the 1934 all-star game trying to tie that record is pedro martinez while working for matt williams the ground ball to second made by alamar will not happen and the throw too late should be a mistake for roberto alamar seven time gold glove award winner he has made only three all season but that was an opportunity Typical and easy for Alamar.

It's a mistake. It looked like he hit it on the heel of the glove, the hardest part of the glove, and it bounced off his abdomen. He stayed right in front of him, but Matt Williams rushed down the line. Like he does every day, he was able to beat him, obviously it's atypical anytime a player makes a mistake on a play like that in an all-star game, it's atypical, but Roberto Alamar is as confident a second baseman as this game gets. -on-one out and bagwell looks at jim evans and says really strike one says they call me too good in the other league here's a guy who year after year along with his second baseman craig biggio is probably as good a quinella as the La National League has to offer on the right side of the infield and he could have done it for the Boston Red Sox, traded from the Red Sox in 1990 on July 31, as well as that August 31 for Larry Anderson.

Larry Anderson came here helping the Red Sox. They ended up winning the division but losing four in a row to the Oakland A's and then there's Bagwell who moved from third base to first base and is one of the biggest power threats in the national league, he was born here in Boston and is waiting on 1 -1. pitch, he flinches at a strike that is strike 2. Back in '89, the Red Sox's fourth-round pick last played here in a competitive game in a college all-star game and one ball and two strikes, two and two, the threats simply remain. coming mike piazza will follow one on one out two-nothing american league here on the second throw to first and williams just comes back nobody does it better than that man behind the plate pudge rodriguez quick feet strong arm of which we were behind ahead of the tag of jim tomy which is a lethal combination by the way for baserunners fast feet strong throwing arm three balls two strikes in bagwell the runner swings a miss he struck out down williams left strike him out throw him out double play and martinez has faced the minimum a through two ivonne rodríguez, seven-time gold glove winner, just shot matt williams to death and look what he brings to the all-star game, quick feet radar has already been said, the American league uses those feet inthat arm after an inning and a half two nothing american league behind that successful videotape we hope it has been rewound it was a strike for ivan rodriguez starting the bottom of the second with roberto alomar and kenny lofton to follow schilling probably working his last inning here with von rodriguez at the plate we go back to his work behind the plate rodriguez getting the ball to the middle infielder so fast and a little wink right there matt williams got you the only thing about yvonne rodriguez is that she plays so many games she had 153 games ago three years 150 for a catcher in the Texas heat two years ago and 145 last year can't keep him out of the lineup jay bell to his right takes care of yvonne rodríguez one away and with roberto alamar standing we go down to steve lyons steve hello joe, thank you very much pedro martinez pedro struck out four guys to start the all-star game that has never been done and also you did it in front of the local fans, that has to be incredible, yes, it gives me great pleasure to do it in front of my fans and on my home field and let me, I can't explain how happy I am today to do that.

You know, it's been a long time since anyone won 30 games, you have 15. At the All-Star break, can you even allow yourself to think about that mark? I don't really think about that, I mean, I'll put more pressure on myself and I'm just thinking about the next star and winning a game in time and then letting the rest happen on the field. I'm not really worried about having the opportunities or that I can get them. You were certainly excited about this in front of the home fans. A couple of pitches you threw up. 98 miles per hour that gets it pretty good, well I got a lot of rest so I guess that helped, so I guess the little extra rest I had today, four days, I didn't even throw it aside.

It was just that this would be more or less my side job and then go find the next exit, well Pedro, congratulations, good luck in the second half, let's get back to you in the cabin, okay Steve, thank you very much, Roberto Alamar poncho. curt schilling retires the first two and we talk about pedro martinez and bob brentley would have to be almost perfect in the second half if he wants to get 30 wins and he has been almost perfect in the first half of the season but many ask a boy martínez who has a history of running out of gas at the end of the season, it would be nothing short of a miracle if they won 30 games this year.

Denny McLean, the last to do so in 1968, won 31 games with Detroit. As Kenny Lofton comes in, he stole a base with a single and scored a two-nothing run in the American League here on Lofton's second big swing and the count, one ball, one strike, often started in the first inning with a single grounder into the infield for first and maguire couldn't get to schilling maybe better to put it schilling couldn't get to first base in time to get loft one ball two strikes pepsi would like to congratulate ken griffey jr as the best player in the all star game the american league voting, while sammy sosa received the most votes internationally, makes his first start here tonight and sammy sosa starts in center field tonight, it's not unusual in the all-star game for guys to play a little out of position.

Sammy played some center field this year. paralos cubs 14 games in fact the national league does not have a regular center fielder voted in lofton strikes out consecutive strikeouts in the second inning for shillings he will probably end up back in boston after this and a word from his local fox station these friends for the blues the reds and the warriors these friends for the giants jazz and magic these friends for the home team remember we told you before the game that joe torre told nomar goshipara that he would play two innings and then send derek jeter out once to take the field in the top of the third.

I think what changed joe's mind was that garciaparra was going to start in the bottom of the third inning, so expect garciaparra to hit one more time and then have jeter. go to the ball game and of course your side should get a good chance we'll see Jeter come in as a pinch runner. Check out the New York Yankees' second American League pitcher of the night and still. one of the few big pitchers left in the game is righty david cohn the opposing batting average is only 220 against david cohn here's another pitcher with a pocket full of pitches at his disposal i think sometimes david cohen makes up pitches on the mound he lowers his arm angle, he'll throw overhead three quarters he'll drop almost like a gun sometimes I think it's time to go down look who's up new york new york yankees and mets mike piazza opens up and hits a drop down slider strike right there first pitch to piazza what series for mike piazza in this series of latest weekend interleague action between the mets and yankees he's out front and he lines that foul up the left field line here's a guy who hit two big home runs of three runs two monster home runs against the Yankees when the Mets ended up winning their first internal league series against the Yankees in the last three years they won two of the three due to the count and there is another drop ball drop down, it is still in two Bowie Kuhn and Faye Vinson. two former commissioners of this game looking here at Fenway Park and again when you send out the invitation for the all-star game and you have Fenway Park at the top, you're going to get a lot of response, but the C league is sitting next to Ted. williams john henry next to ted his son while piazza strikes out and there have been six strikeouts for the american league team pedro martinez struck out five and david cohen starts with the strikeout the fastball and the change of martinez to the drop-down slider and splitter by david cohen there is no replacement of the American league pitcher until now I was talking about bullpens he could come at you with different looks these are starters who come after you with different looks here is jeremy burnetts who ended up representing the national league in the round home end ran the derby here last night, put on a great display of power and shot into the inside corner.

Here's a guy who's thrilled to be here in Boston. Great swing. Oh, and two, you can say that about every swing Jeremy Burnitz makes. He just does it. don't get fooled at the plate chase a bad pitch out of the strike zone here always take that big guy who hit 38 home runs last year, foul that one to the left. I've seen almost all of David Cohn's starts this year and at no point have I seen him face two batters and throw as hard as he's throwing tonight, talking about that little extra adrenaline you get in this ballpark in this game, the five-time All-Star is David Cohen, strange outside and the count one and two burnett prepared for another strikeout and they almost called him on the outside corner two and two backdoor breaking the ball that time from david cohn the ability to work that pitch on both sides of the plate from the catcher's camera on a two-and-two by Burnett down the right field line but he messed it up.

I would have to imagine the Cleveland Indians and John Hart, who has done such a fantastic job of building that team, one of the most dominant teams in the game over the last seven and eight years. look at jeremy burnett says one that got away as he lines one in right field towards the corner, it should be a double taken from that corner by ramírez and the national league has its first hit and it's jeremy morenas and a double here in this third inning below jeremy burnitz resting at second providing baseball fans with live aerial coverage of historic fenway park is budweiser himself bud one blimp budweiser the official beer of major league baseball the number nine hitter in the national league is jay bell stop short long first chance at second base and he's really performed well, he's done an outstanding job of making the transition through the middle of the infield a career-high in home runs with 24 already in the first half of the season trying Putting the National League on the board here in the third inning and his teammate Randy Johnson is ready to go in the National League bullpen, he'll be next one ball, one strike on Bell Cohen falls behind Jay Bell With 24 home runs on the year, but none bigger than his last, he hit a grand slam homer Sunday in the sixth inning that won a million dollars for a slightly late fan with that 91 mile per hour swing from Cohen's two and two lady called boy lean hoyle chose the player correctly and the inning and a grand slam was worth a million dollars million dollars I forgot we had Captain Diamond here in the booth with us, remember the name of the bell, strike three in the outside corner, that's seven strikeouts from the American League of National League hitters and two here in the third inning falling and throwing the fastball in the outside corner, we mentioned the cone, throwing the breaking ball in both corners, he does the same with that fastball that follows, it starts right next to the outside corner, from that drop down move, continues back, you can see Rodriguez's glove moving towards the center of the plate as he caught the ball, good job catching that pitch back to the top of the order and Barry Larkin, who takes a strike on that outside corner, the third most in Reds history, 10-time All-Star selection for a guy who for years was in a log jam in shortstop and caught behind ozzy smith, who was honored here tonight as one of the greatest defensive shortstops of all time and there's one of the greatest defensive catchers in the game making a good play with a ball in the ground, that's a great play, it's a 57 foot splitter and looks at rodriguez like a hockey goalie hitting him, keeping him in front and stopping the runner from going up 90 feet.

In fact, he ended up blocking that ball with his left thigh, but there's no such thing as a bad block if you keep that ball in front it doesn't matter if you use the referee to keep it in front carlton fisk watches as yvonne rodriguez will now take home an all-star game se prepares back to texas a ball a hit in the middle of the glove of the cones and inside center to score to bernice the lead has been reduced in half with a single by the umpire with two outs by barry larkin burnetts with a larkin double with the single by the umpire the only problem with that pitch is if you don't get it out enough major league hitters hammer that and that's what barry larkin did which was on the outside of the plate not in the outside corner and larkin takes advantage by driving in the first career in the national league, perhaps Nomar Garciapara's lack of mobility prevented him from reaching that ball.

How about that play by Cohn? He just took a hit from Larry Walker. A left groin strain for Nomar Garcíaparra there defensively. That ball passed by him towards the center and it is 2-1. American League. American League. Nomar Garcíaparra will open the American league. here in the third inning against an unlucky left hand, yes, unlucky, the lefty is absolutely right randy johnson has been as good as a pitcher can be in his last four starts and has absolutely nothing to show for it, he's had a no-hitter. batter and two two batters thrown against him, while his team has accumulated a total of five hits for him, he only struck out 54. he leads the league in strikeouts opponents' batting average era garcía for the first pitch he throws it to the center right-hander Sami Sosa wants it's one pitch, one out, well now it's an interesting matchup, we're going to have Randy Johnson facing his teammate Ken Griffey Jr here in the third inning and you have to wonder every time you see Randy Johnson in a game of stars against a left. hitter with your hand someone you have a history with like larry walker a couple of years ago you might get the old airmail about the hat larry walker turned around and batted right handed two years ago playing straight strike one a couple of guys who came through the Montreal Expos organization, Larry Walker in right field behind Randy Johnson, how does Junior swing on the first pitch?

Given Randy Johnson's history with John Cruck and Larry Walker. How do you go there and swing on the first pitch? Johnson misses one. ball a strike, i would think i would be ready to hit the ground just in case i will throw a pitch just in case randy johnson with that typical delivery where he just peeks over the edge of that glove that's not the prettiest sight coming your way, when you're standing at the plate at 97 miles an hour, two balls and one strike, yeah you may have heard the term sneaky lefty, this ain't a sneaky lefty on two and one, griffey cuts it off the plate for maguire, little guy and complicated jump two. so no fun no hijinks no crazy no nonsense not yet two years ago in cleveland randy johnson's first pitch to larry walker put walker to bed right-handed at least temporarily eventually returned to the other side of the batter's box walker took out a walk without even taking the bat off his shoulder maybe the walk led randy johnson to rethink this all-star game buzzover the head of a previous and current former friend is a terrifying presence to left-handed batters simply hands the ball to the catcher the 0-1 98 one ball one strike has thrown complete games this season when hitting triple figures in the ninth inning, we have seen that four-seam fastball in the upper 90s tonight a killer slider with a very late break there goes an all-star bat of the game and it stays infield, so luckily no one hit with that.

You see the new New York Yankees third base coach, Willie Randolph, a representative, will give it back to Ramirez. Well, you usually see hitters lose the bat. a Randy Johnson slider that breaks down and comes in but appeared to be a fastball over the heart of the plate. Ramirez just helicoptered that bat into foul territory. Willie Randolph takes over at third base. Jimmy Williams. Boston's manager started there. The honorary captain. for the American League Carlton Fisk is on the other side in the first base coaches box Ramirez high heat and good night 99 miles per hour of the big unit we are going to the fourth inning in Boston 2-1 American League we will meet again don' I don't know where I don't know when but I know we'll meet again some sunny day the Orioles' B.J Surhoff takes over in left field Kenny Lofton ends up in center another change in the outfield but right now what you talked about Tim Derrick Jeter will take over is short for garcia park joe was oh that's a great moment right there joe torrey saying he made the move with jeter and joking with derek jeter said the reason I'm doing this is so you get booed number two eric jeter complains about the shortstop a good moment when nomar garciaparra finishes with two at bats this all-star game ends oh for two he gets a nod from joe torre sean green is the new right fielder for the american we have a league out and left lofton in center Sean Green and right-handed jeter now at short those are the changes david cohn returns to the hill and faces sammy sosa sosa stands on a strikeout victim it's his first time up the first pitch swings to the right side for tomy a little wobble at the end, but tomy saves it and sosa is ready for two good home run derbies last night ken griffey jr may have won it, but in a few years they will be talking about this exhibition at Fenway Park 13 home runs in the In the first round, none of them were measured at 500 feet, but come on, they were 500-foot home runs.

There are many people around here wondering who calculated those distances correctly. He hit one from the top of the light tower in left field, we don't know. How far would that ball have gone if it had continued into the night? Why is a ball a strike? I get to watch him take batting practice day in and day out in St. Louis. It just doesn't get old and he finally got a chance to show that power in a batting practice type atmosphere during the home run derby here last night and he did the second half of that first round with a broken back, oh that missed count two and two on Maguire, you mentioned he broke a bat in the home run derby pedro martinez took another bat from mark maguire he has one bat left to use in the all star game so this is it, if he breaks it he's gone, It won't be able to continue like when you were a child. you lose the ball you have to go home the game is over he's looking at mike piazza's best casey he needs another mark maguire will walk out with one out that's the first walk issued and when you think of mark maguire you naturally think of 70 home runs but how about this moment, September 8, 1998?

It's number 70, his son Matt is present and what parent couldn't get chills seeing that. You may have noticed that Mark Maguire on his hat has Matt written on the crown of his cap, Big Mac. on first with one out big matt is at the plate hits a home run number 62 from mcguire last year the shortest home run he he hit 341 feet all year long which had been low enough to have gone through the wall, not the wall, bagwell waiting on deck the man williams who has hit at least 20 home runs every season during the 90's the guy everyone the The world talks about the season he was organizing in 1994 when the strike hit Matt Williams putting together an incredible season when he hit 43 home runs in just 112 games, good swing but also strength: it is his 300th home run of his career on April 6 of this year, the National League Player of the Month for April hit 357 with eight home runs and 25 runs.

Barry Bonds has a chance to have 20 or more home runs every year in the '90s, he has nine this year, of course, Bonds. He's been on the disabled list for about a month, a one-two pitch, Williams, a late swing and a cone calls him for his third strikeout, which is now eight strikeouts and three and two-thirds innings of Pedro Martinez and David Cohn They seemed like the divider. It is not like this? I think spinner generally indicates a split finger fastball, movement down and towards the right hitter, running at first, that's Maguire with two outs and here's Bagwell takes the ball high, I'm sure at some point moment will shake some.

The hitting coach during Jeff Bagwell's life as a baseball player said, "You know what the fuck, you can't hit like that," spread out at the plate, made that severe swing with the hook, all he does is hit home runs, he's a Interesting contrast to some of the other home runs. hitters we have here at the ballgame tonight ken griffey jr standing tall in the batter's box mark maguire a little crouched not so extreme but they all managed to get the bat head on the ball and hit it away jeff bagwell seems to have that invisible stool under his ass, he rarely gets fooled by two balls and a strike and a strike over the outside corner and Vagwell thinks it's two, this guy called me on the outside two and two, not too many batters, huh.

I've seen that pitch that umpires in either league called a strike this year. Tall slider Bagwell lines one up to right field. That's a hit. Sean Green will get it back. It's two against two. Now the tying race is in scoring position for the national league. in the fourth inning only the third hit of the night for the national league players and mike piazza who struck out for the first time breaks through at number 31 the catcher like piazza piazza who grew up in norristown pennsylvania it's an old story but in a game like the Dodgers' former 62nd round pick in 1988 is worth reviving.

A look at Ted Williams, who told Mike Piazza as a young man after watching him swing, you'll be in the big leagues one day. The Teddy Ball game was right here is Piazza and there's a base hit right now what are you doing? you try to score maguire they will hold him at third and the bases are loaded with two outs, a walk and two singles here in the fourth inning tim flannery the third base coach comes way up the line to see if sean green will move the ball, then mark would have tried to score, but there was no way to try to score on maguire with a ball he hit so hard even with two outs, green with too strong an arm and green made a good shot through the post. cutting man's arms jim tomy was right on the line for pudge rodriguez at home plate a very hard throw seemed to be on line too tony larose is probably somewhere hidden in this stadium with big signs one says stop him the another says send it in and I'm sure Tony was watching with bated breath as his big money maker circled the third base mark.

He was bothered by a bad ankle huffing and puffing at third base and he just didn't score and a ball hit a guy so hard he can throw. and now the bases are loaded with two outs for jeremy burnett and he's jammed and a grounder to first picked up by tomi and the threat is for a walk two singles three to left four in the national league night we're going to the end of the fourth inning david cohn good work in two frames two to one american league as we approach the end of the hour we approach the end of the fourth inning tonight began the presentation of some of the best players of this century to the crowd here at Fenway and then it was game time and it was Pedro's time since he started this game with three consecutive strikeouts in the first inning he would end up striking out five and the second inning came to an end and one strikeout throws him out of a double play and the position ovation for pedro martinez when he came out from left after two scoreless innings luis gonzalez is now in the game in left field which moves jeremy burnett from left to one of the great stories along with paul byrd two righties for the last national league field I started and won against the giants on Sunday night and then the red eye to Boston has to be tired.

Jim Tommy leads him two to one. The American league leads it here in the fourth inning and in the last field in one. This is inside. I liked Ken's quote about appearing here in the all-star game. He said, "You know what I'm going to have one of the longest names of all the stars, but I'm not going to have one of the biggest." When they roll out the rosters and reserves, people will say who the hell is this guy who was released four times in his pro career and is now finding success, a 14-game winner here in 1999 in a Cardinal uniform, the two-ball pitcher 2-1. two strikes on tommy out of nowhere kent bottenfield paul byrd a couple of guys who know what it feels like to be released bird picked up on waivers from the atlanta braves picked up by the phillies see what they put together here in 1999. mistakes in the lower field and the count is completed three and two randy johnson won the perfect inning with a strikeout and now the lower field keeps it full with tommy see right-handed pitcher josé lima starting to warm up for the national league club houston astros starting pitcher three balls two strikes comey leads He took off and took the low four ball, let's take you to Steve Lyons, Steve, okay, Joe, thank you very much, the American League starter, Nomar García, for, in the three years that you have played in the major leagues, you've had tremendous success is ranked in order of importance, the highlight of you standing on that line and during this all-star game introductions, I've had some very special moments and that ranks up there I mean, these fans are great and that was something special and I'll never forget that now, speaking of special moments, when Jeter comes on the field to replace you, a nice hug, that was nice, what did he say to you?

I told him, go look for it, brother, they will send you the best. Take care of me, that's great, how about with the legends of the game here tonight and Ted Williams throwing out the first pitch? You got into his golf cart and had a few words about what the conversation was about. You know, I just said hello and he. I was saying, you know what Noah, we have to get together sometime, I said definitely, I mean, every time I talk to him it's exciting, he's the kind of guy who was absolutely one of the best hitters and he loves the way he you play, without a doubt, the fans.

Here in Boston and around the country I had the opportunity to see how you play. Tonight was an exceptional experience for you. Oh, it was and I and I really appreciated it. I thank them every day and you know what I can't wait for. Come back on Thursday and play against him again. He went over two, but we won't be able to take that smile off your face. Let's get back to you. Okay, Steve, thank you very much and congratulations to Nomar García. parr getting through the home run contest and a few innings here tonight with that left groin strain, you can bet the Red Sox brass are breathing a little easier after he missed most of last week in the big series in Atlanta for Boston Ripken, who already has a hit, leans that one how to play count one two rafael palmeiro waits to hit the next iron man of baseball cal ripken jr at the plate moves away from ball one his streak of consecutive games and It is worth reiterating that he finished with 2,632 consecutive games over a 14 and a The half-year period ended last September against the New York Yankees, it began on May 30, 1982, it ended last September and he is leaving the game and the count is still one ball and two strikes and during that stretch, Cal Ripken Junior probably used about 1,742 different stances at the plate, you might go to back-to-back ball games and not see him adopt the same stance in the batter's box.

He talks about adjustments all the time in the game of baseball. He takes them at bat. He sometimes has fun in the field. american league bench as they look at ripken with a count of one and two and ripken jumps out of there cal ripken jr started this season with a heavy heart losing his father to lung cancer on march 25 he had to fight what happened for emotions he'd never felt before his partner in the Oriole organization went on the DL for the first time, he was on the DL from mid-April to mid-May and then here's a guy, Bob Brentley, all They said, come on, Cal, back off, sit down.

I have lost him, don't be ashamed and here he is with star numbers, 12 home runs and an average of 313. allThey should lose him if that's losing him, Cal Ripken has had the last laugh on those critics as he beats him up badly and it's nice to see him laugh, smile and have fun after a rough start to the 1999 season. You know, the streak had to weigh heavily on his mind coming to the stadium every day and there is no way in the world that for over 2,600 games. He felt good every day he came to the stadium and now that the streak is over, it looks like Cal can relax and play like the rest of the guys do.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos renewed his contract for at least one more. year in the bottom field in one and two and that caught Ripken, so a walk and a hit batter two against nobody out and Ripken to the first physical pain here, emotional pain at the beginning of the season, as we highlight Cal Ripken Jr and we show him with his mother and father. cal ripken senior a member of the baltimore orioles organization for 36 years his brother billy ripkin is a great trio and a big part of orioles history there is one of the best and biggest ambassadors of the game cal ripken jr two in nobody out and bottenfield in trouble here in the fourth inning when he faces palmeiro under mcguire's glove to the right they will bring tommy to the plate the right fielder's throw to third is too late ripken goes from first to third the brunettes couldn't catch him and the american league leads three to one milwaukee hits back and now it's a palmero single it's not a good start to this fourth inning for the backfield mark maguire actually dives for the ball if the glove had been on the ground, at less prevents it from going to the outfield but the ball is burned Bottenfield tries so hard to get out towards Palmeiro that Raphael drives in his first run of the night.

Now you mentioned Tim, a lot of aces in this ball game tonight from the different teams' starting rotations and the last field is certainly that cardinal's ace. personal, but not the kind of overpowering pitcher we've seen up to this point in the ballgame, Right Palmeiro, they can't hold it and he was ready to hit the second Rodriguez, swinging strike one while fouling out, probably not holding on. him because raphael had two knee surgeries last winter it looks like he's running pretty well then and now mark maguire will hold him can you hear him talk he said i'm not going now he was there before first and third no one out rodríguez hammers after another strike two maguire playing behind at first paul marrow knows he's a first baseman he got a good lead by walk he accelerated right on his break for second base again a guy in palmeiro who is progressing and improving at 30 years old runners in the corners nobody out in the count oh and two in ivonne rodríguez the number nine hitter is a guy who hits 324 with 60 runners roberto alamo randy johnson his final work for the night that stays up two balls two strikes scott williamson the rookie strong pitcher for the cincinnati reds getting ready coming out of the bullpen for the national league 2-2 and a good fastball from the back of the field yvonne rodriguez was one away one less roberto alamar will bet we would like to announce the winner of a new nissan frontier crew cab the first compact truck with four real front doors with hinges the winner of the All-Star Drive to Boston sweepstakes is james distefano congratulations james runners on the corners with one out and the strike we're giving away houses around here giving away cars jay bell hit a home run a fan won a million dollars in the 6th inning on Sunday the Diamondback captain gave us that information you have to come to the stadium they can give you anything the 01 pitch hits hard through matt williams to left field in this score is torn and now has a 4 lead -1 in the American League that ball stayed down on Matt Williams a lot Matt goes to his right he tries to backhand it the ball hugs the ground that is the ball that Matt Williams usually sucks and that particular ball comes out of the bat of a lefty He has a little bit of English and was moving away from Matt Williams.

He knelt down to backhand that ball and it kept moving away from him, so now runners on first and second in case of an error, that's how it's determined. a mistake by matt williams they don't give an RBI to roberto alamar kenny lofton stands out you know better than me bob but matt williams is a guy who learned to play in the short infield first and then third in college tying ping paddles -pong in his palms and fielding ground balls he still has the softest hands of any third baseman this side of mike schmidt has a chance on a fly ball off lofton's bat two down mike schmidt is probably telling himself how can they hit matt williams an error on that ball that ball has to be a hit we know he's saying it because he's right next to us in the booth derrick jeter will enter for the first time tonight number two a piece of cake shortstop michael 10 gold gloves steve carlton right next door we talked about left-handed before one of the legends of the century 329 victories in the big leagues it was a privilege to be a teammate of theirs believe me runners on first and second and two out for derek jeter number two of the yankees and he takes the ball and pushes him away.

Now you have the opportunity to see Derek Jeter almost every day. You, I and Bob have been so impressed with him over the last few years, what do you think of him now? In my opinion, he has been the most valuable player in the American league for the first half of the season. Rarely do the Yankees play a game in which Derek Jeter doesn't have a hand. by doing something big defensively on the bases with the long hit and joe torre knows it, joe keeps shaking his head and says this guy is something special, the rookie of the year back in 1996 and part of that world championship for new york .

Yankees, he's up on the score here two and one and he's adopted a more formal outfit for tonight's all-star game wearing leggings, I'll tell you what that style is, very elegant, no idea, two on two, Jeter, a little forward, two. balls two strikes is a racehorse I will tell you that it is not unusual that in the all-star game the various companies that supply equipment to the major league players give them something a little out of the ordinary, I would say that is out of the ordinary Ordinary Jeter struck out, so Battenfield ended up getting in and then out of trouble with only two runs crossing the plate.

It looked like Derek Jeter was giving Nomar Garcia some power right there earlier. Has he returned? There's no chance any of us could miss that. in those shoes, he strikes out and we go from four mlb at home is brought to you by Roman, the digital health clinic for men and proud partner of Major League Baseball, below a couple of changes as we reach the fifth inning here in this 70th entry. -all star tony fernandes third turn of duty with the toronto tiles never better at the plate and here in 1999 he replaces ripken and on the mound replaces david cohen is righty mike messina the only pitcher on both sides to feature a pitch Very unusual, it's a knuckleball curveball thrown with the fingertips, so it's really a misnomer.

Mike Messina Through all the years, the Orioles struggled the last two years. He has been the only constant for the Orioles since he came to the Major Leagues. Six years ago, sitting here with a couple of ax catchers while Jay Bell comes in, you can see that Yvonne Rodriguez has to go out and talk to every pitcher that comes into the game, you have to figure out what this guy wants to do and the possibilities are great. He hasn't even had a chance to warm up the guy in the bullpen. I mean, you're out there flying blind right now.

You have an idea of ​​what Mike Mussina releases. You've faced it, but it's completely different standing in the batting room. box and sitting in the catcher's box a ball no strikes bell receives a strike one by one we have had a change of official scorers since they will give credit to roberto alamar with an rbi it is still a mistake by matt williams but an rbi as it should be bell makes a low pitch two balls and one strike then matt williams makes the mistake he has made seven so far in 1999 during the regular season two balls and one strike now three and one from messina i don't care if it's an all-star game or not three and one he's a good hitter count j bell a good high fastball hitter who misses a leadoff walk so messina comes into the game he issues a walk to the bell and a couple of tops here's tom brennaman big room New York Mets fame and Tom You hear a lot about how poor pitching is today, how do you compare pitching today to when you were in the big leagues?

You know it's a lot easier when you're out of the game for 15 years and you or something. I look down and of course I'm broadcasting, doing some broadcasting for the Mets and doing 50 games for them, but I try to be as objective as possible. possible as to why the game is different now than before and I look. I look at it and see more, I think I see more 2-0-3-1-3-2 counts than I've ever seen before. I see pitchers giving hitters two and three chances to take over if each of them does. bat while I don't, I don't remember it being like that not now I don't think the great pitchers of any era or different I don't think I'm not talking about Pedro Martinez's and you already know the guys who are here in this all-star game , but as a general rule I see more pitchers late in the count and you just get behind the eight ball when you do it, we thank you for taking the time to be with us and Even the Hall of Famers take the time to get some autographs with Ted Williams before the game.

This is also important to us. This is very important and I know you are proud to be a part of this. Thomas, thank you. for the moment, tom joe, back to you, okay, tom brennaman, thank you very much, tom seaver, one of the best of all time, while you look at mike messina, a sure right-handed pitcher, to say very few, if that any, the pitchers got or got the momentum that tom seaver had. When bringing a pitch to the plate, I think it became fashionable for pitching coaches to start focusing more on the lower body instead of just the arm action at the arm angle, like Tom Sever with a tree trunk like legs and using them to drive toward home plate and throw that fastball, just amazing when there's no one out there.

Larkin takes the ball one and two. Tom Seaver used to get so low that he often wore a knee pad on his right knee, scraping that knee against the ground. Tom, obviously true. about pitchers falling behind in the count it's an epidemic in baseball possible double ball game alamar throws jeter to first too late larkin is on that ball he made a complicated jump and alamar tried to stay with it not very well handled by the middle by two guys who don't normally work together our recap of the chevy trucks game as we play here in the fifth inning jim tomey put the american league in front with a runner single in the first cal ripken added to that lead pedro martinez five strikeouts tie an american league record so it's barry larkin driving in a run with a two-out single in the third the american league just scored two runs in the fourth inning against ken bottenfield and the bottom field is probably done for the rest of the night here is luis gonzalez who was a study in perseverance a 360 third hitter in the national league one on one out and a ball that goes away from messina i think when roberto alamar had to back off that ball that was hit hard Derek Jeter misses his double play opportunity with a hard throw but because the jump took him back, Barry Larkin beats the throw and once again that's another defensive play that would perhaps be handled a little easier if Alamar was working with Visquel or if jeter was working with knoblach, the guys you know. with one on one here two balls there are no strong points for gonzalez with the Diamondbacks he is playing in his fourth organization that is just down the left field line towards the corner larkin will head to third dug by sirhoff it is a double second and third Here in the fifth inning of the National League, Gonzalez is something that had a 30-game hitting streak this season, as I mentioned, with his fourth organization that includes two different stops with the Houston Astros and just hanging line after line all over the place . the park and from foul line to foul line there is no easy way to play defense, you see Tony Fernandez, there is no chance to react with that ball in the left field corner and he is one of the nicest guys in all the major leagues, I think they all are. happy for the success that luis gonzalez is having this year, the guy bet 360 this year only 267 for detroit last year he is on second larkins on third with only one out and here is sammy sosa, suddenly the national league has the race of the tie at the plate. sosa up maguire on deck sammy sosa hit the first home run of his career right here at Fenway Park against roger clemons as a member of the Texas Rangers that was the onlyhome run he hit as a member of the Rangers a no-strike ball second and third out of the American League up 4-1 in the fifth inning pretty good heat sosa couldn't catch a ball a good strike, sami sosa has really focused on his zone for strike, but that's the only pitch you can still occasionally get him to chase that fastball up there. a pitch that's a little too attractive a walk and a double in the inning messina facing sosa two balls two strikes and those are two very good fastballs from mike messina that saying in baseball keep the ball down you better not hit him that to soda and maguire that said a high fastball once again, two guys who had combined for 136 home runs between them last year and both lethal low ball hitters second and third one out now the one two over the outside corner two goals zosa out of three with a couple of strikeouts and it's mcguire country's turn hard ball fastball in the outside corner at knee level take a look from the catcher's camera once again pudge rodriguez moving the glove towards the center of the plate giving the illusion that that pitch is a little better than that, it really was Sosa's third strike and now it's Mark Maguire's turn.

I guess we'll find out who the man really is in this situation. Sosa went on to say that last year Maguire did a 93-93-93 for Messina. sosa kept putting off maguire last year no, no, he's the man, he's the man that sosa calmly took on and for a while, heading into the final week, he had a one home run lead over mcguire until he hit five maguire On the last weekend, Dinner simply outmaneuvered him with two men in strength. it's second and third mike messina steps back a little more to get a little more on his fastballs to soda and mcguire swims in two in mark maguire second and third two outs tying the run at the plate he struck out that will continue the resume mike messina comes in second and third one out strikes out sosa strikes out maguire still 4-1 american league good providing baseball fans with live aerial coverage of historic fenway park budweiser bread an aircraft budweiser is the official beer of major league baseball down by Under a thousand changes there are only nine guys, but they have changed a thousand times and Brian Jordan is now in the game in center field Sami Sosa is gone Vladimir Guerrero one of the best young players on display here tonight is in right field but that's not all jeff kent takes over at second base for the giants replaces jay bell sean casey good young player is at first base for mark maguire and mike lieberthal now takes over for mike piazza while josé lima takes over kent bottenfield josé lima one of the most excitable pitchers in the national league throws a good fastball and a little slider his best pitch is a straight changeup only 23 walks in the year zerhoff his first all-star swing and ground ball to first for sean casey one pitch one out let's take it to keith olbermann keith okay joe here with mark maguire and it's not a real warm night but it's really hot out there everyone in this uh both pitchers pitchers from both teams seem to be throwing as hard as they can humanly possible, yeah, the last three pitches I thought I was right and they just jumped right next to me and you know, I like that, I like that though, Mike went right at me and beat me tonight. a sense that there was some kind of anticlimax after that great collection of all-time stars here with ted williams chatting, you know, just chatting about how to hit with some of you who are delaying the game, not delaying the game, but but actually the climax came first, you know, the best thing about it is that he was out there, he just wanted to talk baseball with everyone there and it was just wonderful and he had tears falling from his eyes and I saw a lot of guys.

That felt like they were going to break, I mean, he's just an icon here in Boston in all of baseball, so it was great to be there. Did you get anything worthwhile? Wise advice in those few moments. Yes, he asked me. I wanted to ask myself something if I ever foul a ball, do I ever smell burning wood? And I said yes, I said it all the time, so, you know, something comes out of his mouth, you take it to your heart, okay, mark, thanks for stopping by, we appreciate it, no problem, Joe, I'll get back to you Okay, Keith, thanks and thanks to Mark McGuire, did you guys ever smell burning wood?

You know, right on a foul ball. You know I actually did it before catching behind the plate when a guy fouls out. one right back to the backstop sean green bounces one up the middle lemus kent tries but it's an infield hit for sean green sean green one of the sweetest trades in the game a guy will be a free agent after next year and one of the best young players that are in this game tonight and he is a player too and that could be next to talent one of the best compliments a player can pay another andy pettit of the new york yankees threw a fastball internal at the end of May 31st like In fact, he broke his left wrist, left wrist bone, oh wow, speaking of broken bats, wow, that just shattered and a young man right behind the American League dugout He was able to knock him down and avoid serious injuries.

He actually hit that ball. At the end of the bad finish, so much torque and power carried the bat through the strike zone that when he hit it from the end, the bat just broke in the middle, it looks like he's breathing hard. Me too, man, this is dangerous, they spilled their beer too it cost someone about 28 talked about that helicopter earlier at the Manny Ramirez ball game and that uh lethal one in the stands but everyone's fine, he got the game by game, they gave him the handle to go with the one-on-one cannon here and Jim Tomy throws him to right field and hits Guerrero against the wall to catch him 380 feet away and then shows that arm and almost doubles Sean Green at first, that ball was crushed and it gives you an idea of ​​what kind of run. ted williams, a pole hitter in this stadium, had 380 feet to right field and stayed in the stadium, you could tell by tommy's reaction, he thought he had understood all that when he saw the flight, warrior returns to the wall and then like you said Joe shows that arm by throwing it into the infield in the air trying to hopefully out of the stadium and out of Cleveland that ball is so far back in the seats any ballpark is gone and I'm sure Vladimir Guerrero he was just as surprised as he kept running, running, running, running and then standing on the wall to catch it, thinking.

Hey, there's a lot of space out here, one on two, and Tony Fernandez takes a strike as you watch Guerrero back up a couple of checks to find himself on the wall and he can come in one or two steps and then he lines up and unleashes that. throw back into the infield all tommy can do is smile as he smashes the ball towards righty tony fernandez hitting 400 or more for most of the first half leading the american league batting 3.72 someone is crazy don zimmer don zimmer may have made laughing dogs every time jeff kentz's grounder to right there's a guy who has driven in 120 or more runs in each of the last two years, he's very good at bat, how about this play to his right to receive a hit in the entrance? the sixth american league up by three more without the stars of the yankee hat is hollywood movie producer peter dragon in fox's new action comedy thursdays this fall on fox a couple more changes for the american league bernie williams who He almost became an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox after becoming a free agent at the end of last year.

He opted to re-sign with the Yankees. The Red Sox made an effort for him. The new catcher is Brad Ausmus, who grew up following the Boston Red Sox. boston red sox cheshire connecticut is behind the plate what a thrill for him on the rebound is a lefty from the Kansas City Royals. José Rosado, the only left-hander on Joe Torrey's pitching staff in this All-Star game, wondered if he might save him until later in the game in case he needed to play. the confrontations to try to win the game but here we see Rosado in the sixth inning and the first pitch matt williams fouls out of the game guys on the right side the monsters we play alone we have played five innings nothing about the monster nothing against the monster green is part of the lefty fenway now for the american league maybe the national league righties will come to life against the lefty good pitch from the inside corner and the count oh and two in a hurry a look from above the green monster in left field while Matt Williams jumps back from ball one, we know the green monster is only 37 feet high and the net is 23 feet high, but it looks taller than that to me, he always has one ball, two strikes on Matt Williams . left side leadoff batter matt williams has his first hit reached on an error in the second so he's on base for the second time tonight this is how the sixth inning begins our general american season to remember the question is when was the joe torrey last star appearance as a player, next answer think about that for a moment, if you look at that coach and a guy who could do anything in this game, he's been on both sides of the fence as a player, hell , is a player coach.

He is now George Steinbrenner's manager in the Bronx with the Yankees and has handled everything that has happened, the Daryl Strawberry situation, his own situation, both with his brother in 1996, Frank Torrey undergoing heart transplant surgery or the prostate cancer that affected joe torre in Earlier this year, Joe Torre returned to the game here at Fenway Park on May 18 of this year, when the Yankees came to Fenway Park and played the Red Sox for the first time. They even offered him the general manager position of the new york yankees they rejected him a week later george steinbrenner called and offered him the manager position e02 a little high one ball and two strikes magwell with a hit tonight one of two a strikeout too facing the pink lefty magwell still fouls one and two, you talk about that green monster in left field, that net wasn't always there, hell, the green monster wasn't always green, it wasn't always 37 feet high, but then from a fire, when they remodeled this stadium and renovated it, they kicked it. at 37 feet high tom yaki had bought the equipment in 1933 they underwent a renovation here in 1934 a fire put it back together they had that wall 37 feet high a 23 foot net on top keeps it on the plate it is from owen two to three and two and a look at lansdowne street beyond that net on the left side shoulder to shoulder on lansdowne street last night aka ted williams way during the home run derby they have felt alone tonight however not even a dent there out and Bagwell strikes out on a 3-2 pitch by Rosado In 1936, two years after the Green Monster was built, the Red Sox acquired right-handed slugger Jimmy Fox from the Philadelphia Athletics.

Fox cleared the wall with such regularity that many windows were breaking on Lansdowne Street beyond. wall, so the Red Sox saw it necessary to build that 23-foot-high net over the wall on the left side, but that netting wasn't enough protection for the people who were there last night during the home run derby. Bucky Dent visited that network in 1978 as Rosato. Highly miss Mike Lieberthal, a little-known catcher, but heck, maybe one of the best all-around catchers in the national league. I think he's the best all-around receiver and I don't think anyone knows it. 18 home runs, 61 consecutive runs now for sure.

Mike Piazza is not only the best hitting catcher in the National League, but perhaps the best hitting catcher of all time. He's putting up those kinds of numbers, but Mike Lieberthal can throw well. A great game. He had a fantastic year for the resurgent Philadelphia Phillies who are good ball. club lieberthall now set at one and two leadoff single by williams bagwell struck out rosado to lieberthal could be a double play ball fernandez starts on alamar in the middle and the inning ended the inning started with a hit by matt williams a double play strikeout later we sailed to the bottom of the sixth inning mid-summer classic the 70th american league 4-1 these buds for the blues the reds and the warriors these buds for the giants jazz and magic this buzz for the team perfect home shot of fenway park with a star in the middle and in the middle of that star ted williams number nine we move to the bottom of the sixth inning the american league is ahead 4-1 and harold baines faces a new pitcher kevin millwood of the atlanta braves baines betting on rafael palmeiro one of two in his first start in the all-star game as ed sprague of the pirates long time of the blue jays is at third base for matt williams 2-0 in baines the millwood numbers won 11 games and has been Atlanta's most consistent gritty starter through the first half of the season, which is saying a lot considering players like Greg Maddox, Tommy Glavin andjohn smoltz, who are the exception to smoltz, who is bothered by that. bad elbow is starting to get back on track maddox has won his last four maddox now 10-5 for the braves glavin returns to the court smolt comes off the disabled list this week baines the main machine gets a hit in left center field jordan gets it back on a leadoff single let's get back to tom brennaman joe 50 years ago yesterday a color barrier was broken for the all star game when four black players appeared for the first time and eddie murray your thoughts on that even now well 50 years is a long time , but it was a long time coming, I mean, it should have happened a long time before that, but like Jackie Robinson did it for us, I mean, you know they couldn't have picked a better person and, uh, you.

I know it's something where you always sit back and think about the people who, let's say, paved the way for you and, you know, every time I see someone who's older than me, a baseball player, you tip your hat to them. and i speak highly of them, thank you for your time, those four players, joe don nukem, larry dobby, the great jackie robinson and of course the fourth and final member of that group, as we recognize rachel robinson, joe, again, very good, tommy, thank you very much for the color. The barrier had been broken by Rachel's husband, Jackie Robinson, two years earlier in 1947 and 1949 was when the color barrier was broken in the mid-summer classic when Brad Osmonds stepped up to the plate ausmus in the count. two balls and one strike. while fouling out and here's a guy who grew up learning to love the game of baseball looking at that uniform while watching Offerman on deck here at Fenway Park and Brad Ausma's mom, Lin, used to bring him here to Fenway Park when he was seven years old . years he brought a handmade sign that he made with beads glued to a piece of cardboard that said Yankee stink he still has that sign in his room at home he still has it hanging in his room at home three balls in a strike osmos fouls him back Tom I was recognizing Rachel Robinson.

The fourth member who helped break the color barrier 50 years ago was Roy Campanella and you can see it by looking at Rachel. It's a cold night here. It's almost like a fall atmosphere here at Fenway Park. Three balls, two strikes, one against nobody. outside and ausmus keeps it full, that's something they don't know much about here is the temperatures drop at Fenway Park since they usually don't play in the fall, well they can play but they have a hard time taking home the goods. The Red Sox haven't won a world championship since 1918. If you've heard of the bambino curse, that's what it's all about.

They sold Babe Ruth to New York Yankees owner Harry Frazee and did so to help finance and finance the musical. No no. nanette no no no more world championships for the red sox since 1918 still three and two under sponsorship and all the world series in which the red sox have played have had unbearable losses they have all been seven games 1946 against the cardinals 1967 against the cardinals 1975 in one of the biggest world series in Larkin history and then in 1986 the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs, that's the fourth traumatic world series loss for the Red Sox when osmos beats the play, well, You wonder if the curse will carry over, there is the man. who hit that home run in the sixth game in 1975 with that whole english staff trying to keep things fair carlton fisk because jose offerman is on offer. a guy who hits in the 270s with only 35 runs and three home runs started very well in this his first year in a Red Sox uniform.

These Red Sox are trying to make up for the loss of Mo Vaughn, who left via free agency and is done. In Anaheim, what were the odds before the season started that Jose Offerman would be an All-Star and Mo Vaughn, wouldn't they have been good odds if he had taken a check swing? Offerman turned around on that strike two Offerman. had a very good year last year trying for the first time with the red sox, it occurred to him that the dodgers solidified their spot in the major leagues with the 2-2 kansas city royals back to millwood and why couldn't he hang in there and make the clean play he made from first to second is runner ausmus two here in the sixth inning once again our general american season to remember the question is when was joe torrey's last star appearance as a player the answer 1973 as a member of the st louis cardinals tori appeared in the mid-summer classic in kansas city 1973 for joe torre a season to remember as 1971 was. that was when joe won the mvp award the national league hit 363,230 hits and none were hits to the legs that Joe couldn't run a lick, but boy, could he hit Bernie Williams now in his first at-bat?

He takes a breaking ball from Millwood for power. A boy. Joe Torre has had many seasons to remember. He sure as hell recently won the World Series last year against San Diego. parents the 96 world series against the atlanta braves I even agree with you bob the l1 to bernie williams a ball a force and last year with these yankees while we show and talk about joe taurean we look at bernie williams 125 combined victories for the world champions 114 during the regular season record of the american league for new york in second place here two out bernie williams makes a good strike with his fastball two new york yankees happy that bernie williams represents the yankees in this game of star could very well have been representing the boston reds Sox almost signed with the Sox.

The switch-hitter weights allowed up front got a piece still one and two at a time. There are also rumors that maybe he was targeting Arizona Diamondbacks captain Diamondback, well at least that's what we're told. One ball, two strikes, runner on second. two out, it's been an incredible year for the d-backs, it really has been and they just made a huge trade, really the biggest one since the season started as they got right-handed pitcher Matt Mantei from the Florida Marlins which they had to download. a very good pitching prospect in brad penney also vladimir nunez and there was a lot of talent going both ways i think it was a trade that both clubs will end up benefiting from the full 2-2 count on willian a baines leadoff single forced out hit by osmos is on second with two out after Offerman hit a comeback a 3-2 williams a little ahead he struck out the first strikeout for millwood a first All-Star let's go to the seventh back after this from your local fox station, I think something is going to happen during the game, I don't know what, but there is something in Fenway Park and I have to be there to find out.

Fenway, the animal with the big green wall in left field, you got it. the big green wall in left field, as you know, after the 1933 season, as we talked about, 30,000 pounds of iron were used to build the 37-foot tall green monster in left field, the wall is 240 feet long and the foundation sinks 22 feet below the ground and it was painted green there used to be advertisements on that wall painted entirely green in 1947. the new right fielder in the game is maglio ordóñez a good young player here is a veteran omar vizquel taking over is short jose offerman stays in the game he is now at second base meaning that roberto alamar is finished ron coomer of the minnesota twins now at the beginning great story another story and perseverance first all-star and here is a guy who can lead the league in stories of perseverance jeff zimmerman who is a perfect 8-0 out of the bullpen this season for the karsland alberta rangers about 600 miles north of Great Falls Montana 500 people the population in cars lands in Alberta Bill, the Jeff's dad, watching the game tonight from that little village in Alberta watching the sun go down 2-0 on Brian Jordan I have a feeling there's not much else to do up there tonight.

There's just a gas station, a restaurant, a beauty salon in a grocery store and an eight-room hotel run by Jeff's mother, Sharon, and here's a guy who ended up launching in France. he pitched for Team Canada, dropped out and sent out 200 resumes after earning a master's degree in business. He wanted a taste of the real world, so to speak, and then sent out resumes to all 30 Major League teams and the only team he responded to two seasons ago, Texas. Rangers and the only reason they did it was because they had an extra work visa, they sent it to them.

He went to spring training. He had a great year and now here he is 8-0 with the Rangers, but he walks his manager. the northern league the man named marty scott who used to work for the rangers a good friend of doug melvin invited jeff to spring training and the rest is history here he is at the all star game here is jeff kent he I already talked about what this guy does at the plate and when you watch Barry Bonds during a typical Giants game when everyone is healthy, really the protection in Bonds' lineup is the man at the plate.

Jeff Kent. A look from the receiver's camera on the 1. -0 delivery Jordan takes off down by three Jordan takes off and is the first here in the seventh thanks for changing a little in the all-star game, you are not a strap for that running game that does not it's so often, very close at second base and credit for jose offerman's tag a strong throw by osmus and a good quick tag by Offerman even though he tagged him close to the shoulder, it looked like he managed to get the tag down before the hand from jordan will hit the bag good quick release from osmus behind the plate right on the money and there's that slap tag on the other end now it's 3-0 for Kent Strike One three balls and one strike The main reason Ausmus is Detroit's selection is that the defense was eliminated, 32 percent of the possible base distributors and now Zimmerman walks. kent so a walk to jordan is stealing followed by a walk to jeff kent and the green monster remains unscathed tonight gives you an idea of ​​what the right handed hitters are thinking about that green monster looming over yonder from left center field 379 and left center says 310 on the line it's more like 303 or 304 37 feet high and as we said before, the net is 23 feet high and it's a very intimidating presence when you're standing in the batter's box, It's so close that you can see it's in your peripheral vision when you're facing the pitcher and many right-handed and left-handed hitters also change their swing when they enter Fenway Park to try to take advantage of that wall that they finally managed to announce Maglio Ordonia. it's in right field and there's a look at that big green wall in left field.

I circle it because that's what happens, right-handed hitters come in, get that shoulder out there, and end up throwing a lot of balls to the right. side, you know the wall is only 303 feet from the line, so you think you can throw those outside sliders, that shoulder comes out of there and then you're really screwed, alex gonzalez, marlins rookie shortstop at the plate, and zimmerman still has trouble throwing strikes alex gonzalez is the reason the florida marlins finally traded edgar renteria to the st. luis cardinals they wanted to find a place for gonzalez to play as well as renteria is the first rookie shortstop to play for the national league while fouling another comes back and it's two and two there is only one other rookie shortstop drafted in the history of the national league since 1933. it was frankie zach a backup shortstop for the pittsburgh pirates in 1944 zimmerman trying to retire his first batter gonzález breaks his back appears for Offerman two out one against two out american league leading four to one here in the seventh inning our recap of the pepsi all-star game tomi and ripken rbi in the first inning pedro martínez will be talking about that start of this for a time five strikeouts he struck out the first four batters he faced barry larkin put the national league on the board in the third inning the american league scored two in the fourth inning against kent bottenfield as tim mccarver spoke at the beginning of the night this has been a moment for the For the most part, a well pitched and low scoring game, here is Luis González, one for one with a double and he is only at bat in the fifth inning, chasing away a moth that had landed in front of the plate and was distracting him while he watched. jeff zimmerman so he called time out and shot he's a star bomb the star moth deserves to be here one of the best to find a light so he ends up in the summer classic perry larkin with his own video camera jay's take horowitz down at the other end of the dugout gonzález fouls a ball a strike jay the gentleman in the suit down at the other end the public relations director of the new york mets was going to pinch hit what is he doing down there in the dugout no he's going to throw run one of the best in the business jay horowitz one ball one strike luis gonzalez one on two out jump for the bidder gets it he throws it makes the bat boys rush to third it's kent and it'sfirst and third with two Here in the seventh and defense has never been José Offerman's strong point first as shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers committing 36 errors one year going to Kansas City and showing here an errant arm by overthrowing the first baseman by a wide margin. very long hit on this pitch, usually a second baseman with a very short pitch, you can see the long arm action at that moment since Offerman took Coomer out of the bag and, as Joe mentioned, spread the batters in the circle of cover so now the runners in the corners with two down and the banners vladimir Guerrero the first time we see him at the plate the only thing they say about vladimir Guerrero when you look at his numbers he can hit that unhittable pitch it's a rarity to see him take a pitch like he did strike one fouls him and when I say unhittable I mean the slider an inch off the ground or a pitch around his chin, he swings and usually hangs a line drive Sean Casey on deck looks like he autographed his own shirt warrior reaching for a pitch hits it in the middle of his cow straight out of the glove oh honey come on omar can you smile that was a great play to save a career oh marvis kill mr golden glove from the leather off the golden right to offer Man to win the inning frank robinson and his wife snuggled up on a cool afternoon here in boston and a new pitcher for the san diego Padres national league right-hander andy ashby ashby with three shutouts on the season leads the major leagues really They come into their own as an ace on the San Diego Padres staff, the six-time gold glove winner, has won six straight games, leads it and takes a strike from Andy Ashby, what a play to end the top of this seventh entrance on your left.

He doesn't have to put his bare hand in, he just took it out of his glove to get it out and Bizkell throws it down the left field line that goes out of play and they count two. Alex González is now in the game on the short stay. to play short and Barry Larkin is finally done for the night, well the new shortstop in the national league is a guy who is capable of making this spectacular play that we see here of Omar Vizquel flipping Offerman for the first play to end the entrance. 02 of his kell one ball two strikes mentions andy ashby of the san diego Padres and you can't help but think of the Padres in the job they have done and that bruce bocce has done after losing so many of his regulars from the national championship of the last year. league pennant winning team fouling again here they are 43 and 43 at halftime and bruce bocce once again does an excellent job on that ballclub he has done an excellent job as manager of the parents perhaps surpassed by a close friend of your jack mckeon of the cincinnati reds here's one for a cincinnati red sean casey it's the perfect time to go with keith olbermann joe i'm here with the future of uh play by play announcers the cameraman and play man by played barry larkin of the cincinnati reds who has been shooting yes, i think he did a good job, i think so, whose camera is it?

This is Casey's camera. Why do you shoot him? You don't trust our highlights when I came in case I said Lark, very subtle, can you get my? camera and just take a couple pictures of me if you don't mind, I want you to get some of me defensively and offensively so that's what I'm doing, yeah the really subtle part is out the window now, right? Isn't it exactly now? You've tried advertising before and now you've tried working the camera. What's next for you in streaming? I was asking my man here, hold the camera, how the hell do you keep it still?

I can't, you know, I know I have a There's little adrenaline here, but still you know he's still like this, but he's got it on his shoulder, I've got it, it's a free hand here, back with Casey just for a second, what? is that signature on the back of your shirt? You know, there were some things that he's not the only Cincinnati red that has and I have to tell you, man Scott Williams, he has them too, but there's another, there's a couple more veterans here, like Larry Walker, who signed their uniforms before you realized it and then you didn't. do it right, barry, thank you very much, okay, joe, with you again, keith, thank you, keith, thank you barry larkin, mike hampton from the houston stars takes over ashby took one out, it went well, there's tommy glavin from atlanta, there's randy johnson from arizona and in my opinion, next in line is this guy, Mike Hampton, from the Houston Astros, winner of 11 games, 11-3, a very tough lefty, has a good cut fastball, runs inside against right-handed hitters, a very competitive pitcher on the mound.

This guy was recruited by the University of Alabama and Notre Dame to play high school football in 1990. A ball doesn't hit B.J. Sirhoff, hits it hard, but right on Kent, second base to the right of him, good play, two up, two down, so Sirhoff. oh for two in this his first all-star game joe torrey selecting b.j sirhoff the oldest first timer in this game at 34 years old here is maglio ordóñez a 3.32 hitter who already drove in more runs in 1999 than in any other full game season in the big leagues but he is still very young and is the protection in the White Sox lineup for Frank Thomas the White Sox have played good baseball jerry manuel in shallow center gonzalez leaves jordan enters and the two collide alex gonzalez leaves With this, the shortstop González made the catch, pitching change in the middle of the inning, going to the American League to be able to move on to the eighth national league, still closed, losing four to one and two of the stars of the hard kingdom, D.B Sweeney in your right, Scott Bairstow. your left the tough fridays this fall at fox the smallest seating capacity in the major leagues here at fenway park 33,871 are full at fenway we are in the eighth inning four to one in the american league and roberto hernández tied for first in the major leaguers with 26 saves take over and barry larkin does his job for sean casey on the left as sean digs in strike one once again barry larkin is doing the play by play barry larkin productions narrated by barry larkin gloves all right case stretch a little before you throw to the good guy that's a guy that's a knot and now back to the actual play by announcer joe buck thanks keith that's a hit come on barry a little grounder to the short of one of and me.

I know we've already said this about Luis Gonzalez, but one of the funniest young men to play in this game in a long time. Sean Casey. He is a pleasure to be around and a true tribute to his parents because he is wide-eyed and happy. to see them all and not just here at the all-star game, but every day you see him at the stadium, he's just happy to be there. Here's Ed Sprague, digging into the plate for the first time for Sprague. This happens here in the eighth inning. Sprague fouls one. back and ed is in the hall in two while you look at ed sprague I can't help but think of jason kendall one of the best receivers in the game today we have already tagged mike lieberthal that but hot on his heels is jason kendall who had a terrible ankle injury in pittsburgh that prevented him from being part of this sprague all-star game.

Tony Fernández took care of it and here is a guy who catches hits well and leans towards a pitch if he needs it, he runs well. He has 22 stolen bases and has the kind of attitude that you love to see in a guy behind the plate, a true take-charge player, the rest of the team looks up to him and his leadership, and he can do anything you want in the game. field. a baseball player to do, we certainly wish him a speedy recovery. I'll be back here at the all-star game next year. When I saw that injury, I couldn't help but think of Moise's greeting when Lou hurt his right ankle. in saint louis that fateful day about four years ago and if jason kendall wants inspiration from someone who can go back and get back to his previous level and probably go further, watch moyes as he waves directly from the receiver's camera as brad ausmus comes out and says roberto hernández my name is brad ausmus I will be your catcher in this eighth inning gary sheffield is at the plate the only representative of the Los Angeles Dodgers falls within roberto hernández sheffield finds himself with decent numbers an average of 297 16 home runs47 driven in and a bet rotates the ground ball to visco he knows what to do with that sheffield is gone and the national league goes one two three in the eighth american league reaching the bottom of the plate in the eighth and they are up by three mlb at home is presented by roman, the men's digital health clinic and proud partner of major league baseball, this game has reached the bottom of the eighth inning, cal ripken is sitting now and I think we'll talk about this in a moment.

While Dave Nilsson takes over behind the plate and Bruce Bocce has done so, he has emptied the bench calls from him to his typical closer Trevor Hoffman. He was just going to say that I think this game is as much about these stars' families as it is. For these players walking around the clubhouses exchanging autographed items before today's game, Ron Coomer, a guy who I'm sure looks like he's always played in the Dodgers organization, finally got a chance with the Minnesota Twins. and here it is. I thought they were kidding him when they told him he was an All-Star heading to Boston and coming back to us and Count Owen quickly became too crazy.

A great story played a couple of years in the A's minor league system. He suffered a serious knee injury. He was released by the Oakland A's at that time he was training in Chicago with Carlton Fisk working out every day hitting Fisk they recommended him to the White Sox the White Sox signed him to a minor league contract they rejuvenated Coomer's career as you mentioned, Joey went on to the Dodgers and then finally ended up with the twins, his first All-Star appearance with his golf button, Carlton Fisk and Ron Coomer, who now has a one-two count guy who grew up on the south side of Chicago and was a Cubs fan.

It's like taking your own life. in your hands you know he's a tough guy, that's right, there's John Jaha who's getting ready to bat and if he comes in, both benches will be empty as Coomer fouls out to play on the left side still one and two with a game of four to one. These managers are leaving nothing on their bench as we play here in the eighth inning, Bruce Bochy and it looks like eventually Joe Chori will accomplish what they set out to do and that is get everyone involved in this game now that there are pitchers left. the bullpen inside the corner and coomer is gone ron coomeron is just back up to this point he strikes out looking and we watch our blockbuster star video moment and probably the image and memory that we will all take away from this game. those present stars with some of the past stars behind talking to ted williams before tonight's game ted williams giving batting advice and talking to these current stars trevor hoffman get an out go take a nap trevor your night is over pitching change in the eighth he can sometimes be the unbeatable left-hander billy wagner of the houston stars with 22 saves takes control here in the eighth inning throwing tony fernandes at 97 miles per hour from that little body but big legs for billy wagner if he suddenly If it got a little windier here at Fenway, it's understandable that Billy Wagner is in the upper 90s for the game.

Can he fly the 01 with another 97 mile per hour 0-2 delivery over Tony Fernandez and as if that weren't enough, he also developed a slider that he learned from Randy Johnson, who came to the stars in the second half of the season on last year it's still a pitch he's working on, but he's not going to waste any time on the breaking ball right now 98 by Wagner one ball two strikes Wagner trying to close out the inning Trevor Hoffman started too hot 99 miles per hour two strikeouts in the entry trevor hoffman is now just watching and john jaha who had a couple of injury plagued seasons with the milwaukee brewers he was released he signs with oakland and here he is with 19 home runs and 56 RBIs that last season interrupted by a foot injury left he had surgery to repair it he was looking for a job all winter the A's gave him a chance in spring training he is here in boston for the all-star game too much of wagner 98 strike one, leading active relievers who average more than 14 strikeouts per every nine innings pitched and that's when you take his strikeouts and his numbers and project them into a complete game, the 01.

A chill started this game for the national league as we play here at Fenway, you automatically think. from one of the biggest fans in baseball and one of the biggest fans of the boston red sox, stephen king, we have fox sending good wishes to the horror thriller rider stephen king, who was so successful and i'm sure I'll watch him while he recovers from that accident hit by a The car has a broken leg and he's coming back, so we're thinking about your strength two for Jah Jimmy Williams wondering how his Red Sox will play the second half of thisseason while Jaha commits a foul.

The Red Sox will begin that second half with four games. behind the Yankees, meanwhile, the Yankees open the second half against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then the Montreal Expos move to Yankee Stadium. Two balls, two strikes on Jaha took him around the inside corner and Wagner's breaking ball was his first of three innings. strikeouts for national league pitchers hoffman and wagner it's only appropriate that we show the green monster as we move into the ninth inning four to one the american league doesn't have a dent out there no one has given it a chance joe buck tim mccarver bob bradley with you that's Amazing, isn't it very surprising with the powerful right handed hitters on both teams?

Mike Piazza Mark McGuire Sammy Sosa unscathed as a green monster tonight and I was just going to say, like he said at the beginning, you didn't say it, he said. If this was going to be a well-pitched, low-scoring game, that's what we've had, well, we anticipated or I anticipated that maybe some of the star first-year pitchers would have a case of the butterflies, they're having a little trouble finding. the strike zone falls behind some hitters and at that point maybe the offense would take over the ballgame but that just hasn't happened the pitchers have been on top of their game this entire ballgame dave nilson will lead the game against the new pitcher. the american league that's john wetland wetland takes over it's a four to one game here in the ninth inning and a fastball misses a ball a strike the national league with only one run scored here tonight the umpire belongs to barry larkin there in the third the 1-1 to nilsson forces two brad ausma continues behind the plate defensively the same lineup for the american league and once again joe torre and bruce bochy putting all their reserves in the game here tonight it is troy percival the right flamethrower of los angeles loose in the american league bullpen 4-1 the al forward nielsen after a high stretch still 1-2 dave nelson of brisbane australia one of 20 foreign players for both teams in tonight's game led by The Dominican Republic, with six Representatives, has created here to throw two strikes a little high.

Dave Nelson is the commissioner of the winning league, which is largely downplayed in Australia because he owns the league. That's one way to do it. He wants to guarantee himself a little more playing time. some at bats in the winter for the league nelson keeps the second and two the olympic games that will be played in sydney australia next summer and when we look at that bench of the american league we look at the international flavors seven of the dominican republic four of puerto rico three from Venezuela two from Cuba two from Canada Nilsson is from Australia when he commits a foul on the left side that will come out of the game quite well in the bet here for Dave and the count is still two and two Vladimir Guerrero who plays with his brother Wilton Guerrero in montreal john rodriguez two balls two strikes to nilsson first in batford nilsson straightens the three good here's john wetland the guy we became very familiar with in 1996 when he was closing games and was the eventual world series MVP in '96 for the Yankees and He has a tendency like some very good closers in the ninth inning if it's a three run game they'll give up two, it's a two run game they may give up one, it's never easy, it's rarely quick and easy. even the best in this game didn't recognize john wetland with a clean hat we are the same during the 1996 season while pitching for yank nilsson commits another foul that will go back in out of the game dave is putting here's a battle to try to start the night.

Nilsson is a potential free agent at the end of the year and is still considering not signing a new contract to open himself up to be available to play for Australia at the next Olympics. Nilsson Strikes Here's how we start the 9th inning right tonight after the game, most of you can stay tuned to the local news, but for a full report from the stars after the game, come back to your regional Fox Sports Net affiliate and join Keith Olbermann and Steve Lyons. To continue our coverage of this mid-summer classic, we'll have the MVP award presentation after this game, when Jordan takes the one ball.

The pitching-dominated game up to this point could draft a pitcher and if you draft a pitcher, how can you look past Pedro? Martinez, he pretty much set the tone for this entire ball game, which was going to be dominated by the pitchers, as you mentioned, a lot of aces, a lot of aces from the bullpen in this game, in the year of the great offense, a good pitch still beats to a good batting, look. all those strikeouts stack up here in this all-star game as Jordan takes a strike and now he's set for one and two 22 combined strikeouts tonight, a record for a nine-inning game in an all-star game Jordan with a 2-2 count The single league strikeout record has already been tied by the American League, that record is 12.

Striking out 12 National League players so far tonight, Jordan tries to avoid becoming No. 13, which would set a new record, he maintains it at two and two deck is jeff kent. This crowd has been really subdued since the first pitch. Keith Goldberg played it. A good pitch will put you to sleep, especially after last night's home run derby when balls were flying everywhere. Jordan lines up a basement in right field and the national league is not going to go quietly here in the ninth jordan has walked now he has his first hit in the all star game and it's one on one for jeff kent number 21 for the second nation why What do Joe Torre and Mel Stadlemar smile at you?

I mean you have John Wetland on the mound right now and if he has problems he just calls Troy Percival. He already had Roberto Hernández. He worked the perfect eighth. Kent gets a strike. Charles Nagy of the Cleveland Indians did not enter tonight's game. Shonia Percival, who is she? stay out in that american league bullpen and for the national league paul byrd along with williamson of cincinnati potential double play back to the mound for second on first to finish this 70th mid-summer classic 4-1 the american league wins a dangerous smashed bat and a grounder back to the wetland, that's how this one ends with a hard double play hit by Kent welcome back to Fenway Park here in Boston, our thoughts as we conclude the 70th double play mid-summer classic. ends, the american league wins 4-1 at one point and gives baseball fans live aerial coverage of historic fenway park tonight the bud one blimp budweiser budweiser the official beer of major league baseball and we thank you for your Help here tonight.

I'll take you to the field and keith olbermann keith okay joe we're here with commissioner bud selig and the most valuable player of the 1999 all star game and you can probably guess who the honors go to commissioner thank you very much keith uh pedro on On behalf of Major League Baseball, we are very proud to present him with the award for the most valuable player of the game of 1998 1999. His performance with five strikeouts and two innings was overwhelming, so, on behalf of everyone, congratulations on a very, very job well done. Thank you. Very good, Peter. It's only the eighth time in baseball history, thank you commissioner, that a pitcher from the home team started the all-star game and it seemed like he couldn't have been more excited if he was completely excited.

Is this as good as it seems? Yes, I was very happy and very excited to be there, especially representing the Boston Red Sox and my hometown. It's really a great honor to also represent Latinos in the community and also at home, now that you don't really try it in the regular season for a strikeout, but did you try it tonight? I mean four in a row to start the game as we watch them again to open the game, no one has ever done anything like that let alone three in a row in the first inning and then. a fourth in the second were you going to strike out tonight?

No, no, I was just trying to reach my goal. After watching those guys hit the pb last night and the home run contest, I wanted to make sure I hit my pitches where I wanted to hit them differently. I was going to get hurt and I made sure of that and the strikeout just came, so Sosa McGuire doesn't make any difference in who they are. No, I approach everyone with the same attitude and the same aggressiveness. I don't have anyone in this league that I can tell apart from those guys, congratulations on the performance in the MVP award and the great celebration that has really woken up this crowd at the last moment, congratulations Pedro, well thank you very much, this is another one too For them, very good. pedro martinez the all star game mvp holding the trophies often now back up joe buck is fine keith thanks for the unanimous decision the most valuable player of the 70th summer classic pedro martinez is important here in boston as they make a push for a new stadium that is expected to open in 2003, the home city starter strikes out five and he is the most valuable player at a good time, there it is a final of four to one, the American league wins the summer classic for the 29th time against 40 defeats there.

There has been one tie in the history of the All-Star Game. What a night here at Boston Fenway Park, a park that was built in 1912 and at least until now. As far as the all-star games go, we say goodbye to the millennium with this mid-summer classic in Cleveland for Tim McCarver Bob Brentley Tom brennaman keith olbermann steve lyons our producer michael weisman director billy webb ed goran david hill bill brown we thank you for watching I'm joe buck, a night to remember in boston baseball, I celebrated the young and the old, those who have made us love this game for all of us at fox, thank you for watching tonight and good night, and they will see the game, it will be like they immersed themselves in magical waters, the only constant throughout all the years ray has been baseball, usa It has ruled it like an army of steamrollers, it has been erased like a chalkboard rebuilt and erased again, but baseball has marked the moment when this field is part of this game. of our past lightning reminds us of everything that was once good and could be again oh people will come lightning people will definitely come people will always come back to baseball they say baseball is our hobby but the game of baseball means so much more to La Most of the baseball of the 20th century has wonderfully marked our time, the faces may change, but the game remains constant and perfect and with the setting sun of the summer of the millennium, baseball is ready to take its place in the 21st century and beyond. there in a hundred years.

The ball will still be thrown from 60 feet six inches and daylight will always remain 90 feet away. Millions of fans will continue to be amazed by a wooden bat that sends a small leather ball disappearing into the night and every summer, baseball's biggest stars will come out and shine always bright July will always mean bright stars aligned in perfect symmetry baseball will always be the great American game because in baseball when one king fades into history, another king will rise as history will always repeat itself when an iron horse loses strength, another iron man will be there to continue and when we wonder who will dominate as he did Did this lefty once, another will walk to the top of the hill and right here, in this not so perfect park, the Fenway faithful thought they saw the last great hitter, a shortstop named Nomar is here and now ready to move on the Baseball will live long past the next century because baseball is about rebirth and every summer in July we remember our youth as we marvel at this year's model called the summer boys hey is this place heaven yeah I guess this is just a park, but I could have sworn this was heaven.