Better bring a catcher’s mask and goalie pads of you plan on hanging out on the Shea Bridge during the Homer Run Hitting Contest during All-Star Game festivities. Photo courtesy of Citi2Shea.wordpress.com

According to multiple sources, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will announce tomorrow that the 2013 MLB All-Star game will be held at Citi Field.  It’s about time that not only MLB, but the rest of the world will see that there is more going on at Citi Field than just Ponzi schemes and trips to the disabled list.

The last time the New York Mets hosted an All-Star game was way back in 1964, the first year of the “state-of-the-art” (I know you are giggling) Shea Stadium.  In that game, Phillies outfielder Johnny Callison hit a walk-off home run to give the NL a 7-4 win.  That was the last time an All-Star game has ended with a walk-off homer.

With the Mets turning the corner after the Bernie Madoff mess, they are now able to focus on the positives that are happening on the field. As stated in an earlier post here on TSB, the Mets are NOT a bad team. Read the rest of this entry »

Chase, Paul, Iman and Derrick.....Can you feel the excitement?!?!?

Chase Budinger, Derrick Williams, Paul George and Iman Shumpert.  Seriously?

The NBA couldn’t even get the best player from the city hosting the All-Star Game to participate.  They couldn’t get a former dunk contest champion.  They couldn’t even get “Superman”.

You have…..1 unheard voice message…..”Hey Dwight, it’s David Stern.  Uh, listen…I know you are probably going to bolt from the Magic Kingdom after the season, but could you help an old buddy out and at least give Magic fans the feeling that there’s still a 1% chance you are going to return by demolishing 3 scrubs in the dunk contest next week?  Thanks Dwight, call me back ASAP.”

Press SEVEN to erase this message *beep*. Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Cruz

To start off, I’d like to introduce myself. My name’s Michael Cruz, a 16 year old from Central California, born and raised Mets fan.

For the second year in a row, the National League has made a statement that they CAN compete with American League. The way I see it, is: The NL plays smart, small ball with great pitching; the AL…. smash, smash, smash the ball and go yard. But this year was different. Fielder, who was named 2011 All-Star Game’s MVP, went yard with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning for the National League. In the top of the inning, Jose Bautista tried to score from 2nd on a line drive into left field, but was gunned down at the plate by Hunter Pence to end the inning.

Lots of people only know Bautista for his homers, but he’s also a great outfielder. Bautista played RF last night and made a great, sliding catch in foul territory.

An odd highlight of the game, which I thought was very fun to watch, was Heath Bell’s hustling entrance. He always runs to the mound, but last night he added a little spark to it with a pop-up slide at the mound. The crowd loved it.

RBI’s from Prince Fielder, Andre Ethier, and Pablo Sandoval were what made up the 5 runs for the NL.

The American League was not as exciting as I thought they would be. NL’s bullpen really held them down. 2011 Home Run Derby runner up Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth for the AL’s only run of  game.

What really got the crowd going were the 4 Yankees that did not show up – Jeter, Rodriguez, Rivera, and Sabathia. The only player on the Yankees that I thought had a good enough excuse not to show up was A-Rod.  He recently had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. Other than that, thinking of not showing up is just arrogant. Jeter just hit his 3,000th hit in straight class with a homerun. I am definitely not a Yankee fan, but I still had respect for the man. It would have been great if he showed up, that way his celebration could have been a nationwide thing instead of just in New York. Sorry guys, Jeter has emotional problems  and supposedly needs a rest. The others are just as arrogant as well.

The HR Derby has surpassed the Slam Dunk contest as the best "All-Star" exibition

Back, Back, Back…..GONE! You’ll be hearing a lot of that tonight when 8 of Major League Baseball’s top sluggers compete in the annual Home Run Derby.

Over the years, the NBA dominated the All-Star exhibitions with the Slam Dunk contest that featured some of the biggest names in the sport. All-Stars such as Dr. J, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard have all won. But in recent years, many of the superstars have declined an invite to showcase their skills. There’s no exact answer to why so many of them skip out, but whatever reason it is, it’s killing the once prestigious event.

On the other hand, Major League Baseball is doing it right. Every year, the top sluggers compete in a 3 hour, home run mashing extravaganza. Fans love this more than the game itself. Heck, it seems as if the players like it more. It’s pretty cool to see all of the players and their kids lined up in front of the dugout, taking pictures and video of the whole experience.

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