MLB Stages 5-Minute Sandlot Tribute at All-Star Game as America Marks 250th Birthday
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 15
MLB Stages 5-Minute Sandlot Tribute at All-Star Game as America Marks 250th Birthday
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 15
Summary
Fireworks capped a five-minute "Sandlot" tribute at Philadelphia's All-Star Game, with kids biking onto the field and stars including Bobby Witt Jr., Freddie Freeman and Mike Trout joining the scene.
Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful" from the 2001 World Series underscored the ceremony, which MLB built to tie baseball nostalgia to the U.S. 250th anniversary.
Foster Griffin, a 30-year-old Nationals left-hander added as a late replacement after three years in Japan, became the tribute's emotional focal point and then threw 1 scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts.
The spectacle overshadowed a flat game: the American League scored 3 first-inning runs, added a Miguel Vargas solo homer in the eighth, and held the National League to 3 hits.
Philadelphia's broader pregame pageantry included a 13-piece colonial-era band, Patti LaBelle's anthem, fighter jets and 4 Air Force Academy parachutists, reinforcing MLB's America 250 theme.