Review of a Mid-Summer Classic
*Updated on 6/25/2021Welcome to July baseball from Wednesday Elf, known as the 'baseball fan contributor' here on Review This! It's time for a mid-season story about baseball's All-Star Game.
The All-Star Game
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| Stadium Seating - Source: FreeImages |
The Mid-Summer classic known as the All-Star game has occurred (nearly) every July since 1933. (No official MLB All-Star Game was held in 1945 due to World War II and was cancelled again in 2020 due to a worldwide panendemic.)
In 2020, we again had a cancellation of this 'Summer Classic'. The All-Star game was to be held at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Instead, they will host the All-Star game in 2022.
In 2020, we again had a cancellation of this 'Summer Classic'. The All-Star game was to be held at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Instead, they will host the All-Star game in 2022.
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| Coors Field in Denver |
Now, the 2021 All-Star Game will be held July 13th in Denver at Coors Field ~ home of the Colorado Rockies.
The All-Star game is held on either the second or third Tuesday in July to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the Major League Baseball season. Known as the 'All-Star Break', no regular-season games are scheduled on the day before or for two days after the Tuesday All-Star Game. A number of festivities are held the day before the All-Star game, including the 'Home Run Derby', a contest between MLB's top home runner hitters, which began in 1985.
The participants (players) in this annual mid-summer event are chosen by the fans in both the National League and the American League. Until 1947, the team selections were chosen only by the managers, but since then the fans get to select the starting lineup. The pitchers are still selected by the managers. Ballots used to be given out at ballparks throughout baseball for voting on players for the game. That year (2015) was the first year that all voting is done entirely on the internet.
While waiting for the next All-Star Game in 2021, us baseball fans can catch up on past All-Star games with this great baseball reference book The Midsummer Classic. It's a fun book for baseball fans who love reading and compiling statistics. The book has facts and play-by-play game data of every All-Star game through the year 2000. (published in 2001). A comprehensive resource for fans, researchers and baseball historians.
Wednesday Elf , the baseball fan, has more stories about baseball be found at:
Baseball Moments and Memories Blogspot
Facts About the All-Star Game
The All-Star game is held on either the second or third Tuesday in July to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the Major League Baseball season. Known as the 'All-Star Break', no regular-season games are scheduled on the day before or for two days after the Tuesday All-Star Game. A number of festivities are held the day before the All-Star game, including the 'Home Run Derby', a contest between MLB's top home runner hitters, which began in 1985.
2015 was the 30 Year Anniversary of the 'Home Run Derby' (1985-2015)
The participants (players) in this annual mid-summer event are chosen by the fans in both the National League and the American League. Until 1947, the team selections were chosen only by the managers, but since then the fans get to select the starting lineup. The pitchers are still selected by the managers. Ballots used to be given out at ballparks throughout baseball for voting on players for the game. That year (2015) was the first year that all voting is done entirely on the internet.
All-Star Game Venue
The ballparks chosen for each year's All-Star game alternate between the National and the American League, with venues selected for a variety of reasons by a MLB selection committee. The choices may be made to commemorate a particular historical occasion, the opening of a new ballpark, or a significant year. For instance, the game was held in Yankee Stadium (home of the New York Yankees) in 2008 as it was the final year for that stadium prior to the new Yankee Stadium opening in 2009.
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| Available on Amazon |
While waiting for the next All-Star Game in 2021, us baseball fans can catch up on past All-Star games with this great baseball reference book The Midsummer Classic. It's a fun book for baseball fans who love reading and compiling statistics. The book has facts and play-by-play game data of every All-Star game through the year 2000. (published in 2001). A comprehensive resource for fans, researchers and baseball historians.
Wednesday Elf , the baseball fan, has more stories about baseball be found at:
Baseball Moments and Memories Blogspot
More baseball stories on Review This by Wednesday Elf:
- Why I'm a Baseball Fan
- A Collection of St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Players
- Quiz: Do You Know Your Baseball Jargon?
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
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Wow! Until I read this article, I honestly had not realized just how far into the summer we really are already, but what a fun and fantastic tradition for baseball players and fans alike. It would be pretty cool to see not only an all-star line-up, but also players who are normally competing with each other, actually playing together as a team. Baseball rocks!
ReplyDeleteYep - summer is flying by - we are now half-way through the baseball season! Goes too fast for me - I could watch baseball all year round...LOL. BTW, I always root for the National League to win because most of my favorite players are on NL teams!
DeleteThere's something very special about baseball's All-Star game! Even though I don't follow any one team closely, I do love baseball and the spirit that comes along with it. Looking forward to Tuesday night's game!
ReplyDeleteThere's something very special about baseball's All-Star game! Even though I don't follow any one team closely, I do love baseball and the spirit that comes along with it. Looking forward to Tuesday night's game!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit, Susan. The All-Star Break is always an interesting time, whether you are a baseball fan or not. Fun to watch the top players in both leagues compete.
DeleteInteresting!! I was a huge baseball fan growing up and even as my boys were growing but haven't followed it at all since my boys got out of school. They collected baseball cards and each had their favorite team, neither of which were the same as mine. I hadn't realized many of the points you mentioned so I really enjoyed the article and as always, I learned something new! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was a huge baseball fan growing up, then followed it only in a minor way while my kids were growing up as none of them (or my hubby) were much into baseball. After the kids were grown, I went back to following baseball big time and watch at least one game every day during the season and read baseball stories daily online at MLB. Baseball has once again become my deepest passion. :)
DeleteI love that the All Star game is being played in Cincinnati this year. I used to love driving down to watch them play, that was way back when though. Back in the days that they were called the Big Red Machine and we had players like Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Ken Griffey Sr, Tony Perez and few others. And who could forget the coach, Sparky Anderson! Those were the days of some great baseball! I'd venture to say that each one of those guys played in an All-Star game or two.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly got to see some of the 'greats' of Cincinnati baseball, Beverly. I envy you. I remember all those players too. Fun to see that the 'Home Run Derby' was won by a hometown boy (Todd Frazier), making it perfect for the venue!
DeleteAlmost there for 2018! Such a great way to bring all of our favorites together as a team. Magnificent!
ReplyDelete