All-Star Fun

Last night I got together with my friend Mark, his wife Christy, and some of their friends (one of whom I had met before) to watch the All-Star Game at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Olive west of I-270. It was a fun time, even if the place was packed to the rafters (which we expected to be the case). Mark was rockin' his retro Astros tee, Christy was all done up in Cardinals gear, and I was sporting my Blue Jays jersey and cap, so we had all the bases covered. And in case the day wasn't basebally enough, Mark brought his Cincinnati Reds scrapbook and showed us all of his autographs and newspaper and magazine clippings from the last 8 years. My favorite was the fact that he got Bud Selig to sign an editorial cartoon about him keeping Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame. In a book with a bug Cincinnati Reds logo on the front. Priceless.

I think my highlight of the night was the probably inevitable conversation about our personal all-star team from players we had seen play in our lifetimes. I had a hard time remembering the positions of the big names from the '80s, but I was able to hold my own. I got props for bringing up Orel Hershiser in the pitching spot (we went with a 5-man rotation for that position), and nobody could argue with my choice of Mike Schmidt at the hot corner. Man, I loved Mike Schmidt, even though I don't care about the Phillies at all. I caught a lot of grief about wanting to go with McGwire over Pujols at first base, but what can I say? I started watching him as a child in Oakland so I don't see him as just a Cardinal like a lot of locals do. Anyway, it was a good time.