2013 Chachi #51 Cliff Lee AS

American League 3, National League 0
All-Star Game - Tuesday Night, July 16th in Flushing

One Sentence Summary:  The N.L. All-Stars were shut out for the first time since 1990, as the A.L. All-Stars won, 3-0.

What It Means:  I still love the All-Star Game, and no matter how hard Fox and their broadcasters try to make me not like the All-Star Game, it's not going to happen.  That being said, I made it until the seventh inning until I muted my TV for good.  I didn't listen to any audio of the Home Run Derby.

What Went Wrong:  The A.L. halted the N.L.'s modest three-game win streak by holding the N.L. offense to just three hits.  Mariano Rivera, who is retiring after this season, won the MVP honors after pitching a scoreless eighth inning.

Cliff Lee entered the game in the fifth and promptly allowed a lead-off double to the Orioles Adam Jones.  Joe Mauer then singled to left on a ball that Troy Tulowitzki couldn't handle, but I'd like to think that Jimmy Rollins would have tracked down.  Shortstop J.J. Hardy then grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Jones and giving the American League a 2-0 lead.  Millville's own Mike Trout then faced Lee and grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Perhaps Lee's best moment came during the pre-game introductions, when he greeted the Citi Field boos with an amazing stare-down.

2013 Chachi #50

Domonic Brown's first All-Star at-bat was a blink and you missed it moment.  Brown faced the Blue Jays' Brett Cecil with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and struck out on three pitches.  He was on deck in the bottom of the ninth when Pedro Alvarez popped up to second to end the game.

Featured Cards:  When I chose the 1973 Topps design for this year's Chachi set, I did so realizing the set had no All-Star cards and I was going to need to get a little creative this year.  I decided to go with the design from the All-Time Leaders subset for my All-Star cards, and I'm happy with the results.

Memory Lane
2012 All-Star Game - N.L. 8, A.L. 0 in Kansas City
2011 All-Star Game - N.L. 5, A.L. 1 in Phoenix
2010 All-Star Game - N.L. 3, A.L. 1 in Anaheim
From 2009 - All-Star Game memories
From 1996 - Attending the All-Star Game at The Vet