The National League won the All-Star game last week, with the baseball scoreboards showing 3-1, and as a result the baseball midsummer classic now no longer belongs solely to the American League, thanks to a great swing from the Yankees hitter Alex Rodriguez.
Brian McCann, the Braves catcher, finished the match off, with the National League coming from behind to take victory. The game was watched by 45,408 people at Angel Stadium. This means that the champion will have home-field advantage in the next World Series.
Amazingly, this is the first victory for the Northern League in an All-Star Game since 1996. The American league had won 12 out of 13, with a draw in 2002.
The pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was one of the key players on the Northern league team. He grew up watching All-Star Games, and his favourite memory was in the All-Star game of 1999, when his friend Pedro Martinez mauled hitters. Jimenez was never sure whether he would get to play in a Midsummer Classic, but this year he got his chance.
His big moment came right at the beginning of the All-Star Game, as he started the game in front of 10 million of his closest friends, and the theme for the evening was soon established: “Hit it if you can.”
Jimenez achieved 2 scoreless innings, and was one of a chain of pitchers that muted the American League in their 3-1 victory, as was shown on the baseball scoreboards.
Jimenez threw 25 pitches, in which there were 2 hits with one walk and one strikeout. In his last 9 fastballs, he reached a huge 98 miles per hour. The pitchers were so dominant however that this pitch didn’t even register as one of the top 5 fastest pitches of the night. Justin Verlander of Detroit hit the magic 100.
As Brian Wilson from the Giants explained, “this may sound overconfident, but with our pitching it was clear that it was game over once we had got the lead.
The All-Star game drew its lowest-ever television ratings since its inception. The FOX rating was down 15.7% compared to the 2009 All-Star Game. The lowest rating ever was back in 2005 and was 8.1. Back in 1967 the game was much more popular and drew a 25.6 rating.
Before the game, a moment of silence was held in memory of the principal owner of the Yankees George Steinbrenner. He passed away on Tuesday morning, just a few days after turning 80.
In the fine tradition of the midsummer event, the 81st All-Star Game generated more than $5 million for various local and national charities, which is one of the largest amounts ever made at such a game. This was possible as there was a whole week of events leading up to the ball game in which money was raised for charity.
Read more at: wikipedia