by Jerry Feitelberg

Today, July 15th 2014 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota the American League All-Stars will face off against the National League All-Stars for the 85th time. The stakes are high as the league that wins will provide home field advantage for its representative in the 2014 World Series.

The All-Star game was the brainchild of Arch Ward who was a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune and it was to coincide with the celebration of Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. We don’t know if the All-Star game was to be a one time event or whether it was to become an annual event when it was created. Fortunately for baseball it has become an annual event and has been going strong for the past eighty-one years. There was only one exception and that happened in 1945 during World War II.

As John S. Bowman and Joel Zoss stated in the Pictorial History of Baseball”as part of the fabric of American culture, baseball is the common social ground between strangers, a world of possibilities and of chance, where “ its never over till it’s over.” It is a American tradition rich in legends, folklore and history, a never-ending story where every game is a new nine-inning chapter and every player has the chance to be the hero. Through the years every franchise has had its share of superstar players that stand out above the rest. These are the ones that bring the fans out to the ballpark and one one game brings them all together at once , the All-Star game.

The game this year will be no different. The great Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, will be playing his final All-Star game as he is retiring at the end of the season. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could hit a home run just as the Orioles Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken, Jr., did in his final All-Star game. Other great moments in All-Star games include Ted Williams’ home run in the 1941 game in Detroit. Johnny Callison’s walk-off home run in the 1964 game. Which player will win the MVP award as the A’s Terry Steinbach did in 1986.

The American League starters will have at least two future Hall of Fame inductees. Derek Jeter from the Yankees and Miguel Cabrera from the Detroit Tigers. There are other great players from both leagues but it may be a little too early to predict who will make it to the hall.

Just for informational purposes only- The Oakland A’s have six players on the AL Squad. Only one, third baseman, Josh Donaldson, is a starter but Catcher Derek Norris, inf/of Brandon Moss, Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are backups and are making the All-Star team for the first time. Pitchers Scott Kazmir and Sean Doolittle are also on the team. For Kazmir, it’s his third trip to the Midsummer classic Recently acquired pitcher Jeff Samardzija made the team as a representative for the Nation League but since he switched leagues cannot play. The San Francisco Giants are represented by star outfielder Hunter Pence and pitcher Tim Hudson.

For all the local players and everyone else around both leagues, it has to be a thrill to elected or selected to play in a game with the best of the best. In many ways it’s the culmination of a dream that a player has when starting out playing baseball as a kid. Each step along the way. Making the high school team, the college team, A ball the Double-A, Triple-A and the call up to the “show”. Each step along the way is great but being recognized as being one of the best of the best has to give a player the chills.

Who among them will be the next great superstar like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron , Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez ?

Have fun guys and remember that you can tell your kids and grandkids your exploits of the 2014 All-Star game when you became the MVP of the game.