Wade goodbye
It’s not so much that last night’s All-Star pre-game show wasn’t enjoyable (other than it going for 45 minutes), because it certainly was. Major League Baseball and Fox handled the thing well, as baseball fans got to see the likes of George Brett, who looks like he could still play.
It’s just, can we think of something new?
It’s as if a doctrine were handed down after 1999 that every baseball pre-game experience must try to repeat the night of the Fenway Park All-Star Game, when Ted Williams prompted that evening’s All-Stars to surround him. And thus, everything afterward has been an attempt to bottle magic of that night. Last night came close, but the blatant attempt was still transparent.
Still, all those Hall of Famers gracing the field of Yankee Stadium was fun to watch, each of them sporting the hat of their induction.
Except, Wade Boggs.
While Dave Winfield wore his Padres hat, and tucked a Yankees hat along with him to show off to the crowd, there was none of that for Boggs, who sported a Yankee hat only at third base. No Red Sox cap, which adorns his plaque at Cooperstown.
Come to think of it, no Red Sox.
No Carlton Fisk. No Carl Yastrzemski. No Bobby Doerr.
Not one Red Sox Hall of Famer took the field last night prior to the game. Was it a concerted effort by Major League Baseball not to turn the event into a hostile environment, or did each simply decline an invitation? You’ll remember at the 1999 pre-game ceremony, a passionate jeer for Roger Clemens seeped into the introductions of subsequent players.
Which could be why MLB granted Boggs the permission to go NY on the field last night. Sporting a Sox cap out there probably would have sparked a wide array of reaction on the end of Yankees fans.
Plus, he would have been the only one.
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