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Independence, MO —
Did you survive All-Star week in Kansas City?
I certainly did, although I’m still trying to catch my breath, and from all accounts of conversations with fans, players and officials, the Kansas City Royals knocked it out of the park in hosting the 83d annual All-Star Game last Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
And national stats and figures are now available that back that statement:
n Attendance at MLB All-Star FanFest was 119,092, the fourth highest total ever and a 7.5 percent increase from last year’s total of 110,737.
n The All-Star Game delivered 27.7 million total viewers, a 7 percent jump compared to a year ago, matching the biggest increase in total viewership for an All-Star Game since 1998.
n There were 1,611,940 combined Twitter and Facebook comments on the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby in 2012 vs. 538,578 in 2011 – an increase of 199 percent.
n With the MLB Fan Cave re-created in Kauffman Stadium, @MLBFanCave produced the tweet that generated the most retweets (6,053 RTs) during the All-Star Game.
n All-Star merchandise was very popular in Kansas City as sales increased 19.1 percent based on ballpark and All-Star FanFest returns.
n The All-Star Game was delivered to more than 220 countries by 54 broadcasters in 15 languages. MLB handled 2,556 credential requests for the game.
n Rogers SportsNet registered its largest audience in history for the State Farm Home Run Derby smashing the old record by eased attendance, viewership, engagement and charitable activity.
Although the actual game was an 8-0 National League blowout, the activities surrounding the game were spectacular.
Congratulations to Bob Kendrick and the folks at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for hosting events that involved Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn, Andre Dawson and Frank White – who was named the official ambassador for the museum and the 18th and Vine district.
The museum was drenched in nostalgia, and just listening to Aaron, Robinson, Winfield and Gwynn talk about the game gave me goose bumps.
I enjoyed a quick visit with "American Idol" winner and Blue Springs South graduate David Cook, who performed the national anthem and played in the celebrity softball game. I hadn’t seen Cook since his days on the mound for the Jaguar baseball team and we chatted like old friends. It’s nice to see someone who has made it to the top of his profession has not forgotten the folks from his past.
Did you survive All-Star week in Kansas City?
I certainly did, although I’m still trying to catch my breath, and from all accounts of conversations with fans, players and officials, the Kansas City Royals knocked it out of the park in hosting the 83d annual All-Star Game last Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
And national stats and figures are now available that back that statement:
n Attendance at MLB All-Star FanFest was 119,092, the fourth highest total ever and a 7.5 percent increase from last year’s total of 110,737.
n The All-Star Game delivered 27.7 million total viewers, a 7 percent jump compared to a year ago, matching the biggest increase in total viewership for an All-Star Game since 1998.
n There were 1,611,940 combined Twitter and Facebook comments on the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby in 2012 vs. 538,578 in 2011 – an increase of 199 percent.
n With the MLB Fan Cave re-created in Kauffman Stadium, @MLBFanCave produced the tweet that generated the most retweets (6,053 RTs) during the All-Star Game.
n All-Star merchandise was very popular in Kansas City as sales increased 19.1 percent based on ballpark and All-Star FanFest returns.
n The All-Star Game was delivered to more than 220 countries by 54 broadcasters in 15 languages. MLB handled 2,556 credential requests for the game.
n Rogers SportsNet registered its largest audience in history for the State Farm Home Run Derby smashing the old record by eased attendance, viewership, engagement and charitable activity.
Although the actual game was an 8-0 National League blowout, the activities surrounding the game were spectacular.
Congratulations to Bob Kendrick and the folks at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for hosting events that involved Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn, Andre Dawson and Frank White – who was named the official ambassador for the museum and the 18th and Vine district.
The museum was drenched in nostalgia, and just listening to Aaron, Robinson, Winfield and Gwynn talk about the game gave me goose bumps.
I enjoyed a quick visit with "American Idol" winner and Blue Springs South graduate David Cook, who performed the national anthem and played in the celebrity softball game. I hadn’t seen Cook since his days on the mound for the Jaguar baseball team and we chatted like old friends. It’s nice to see someone who has made it to the top of his profession has not forgotten the folks from his past.
I hope one day the Royals return to the days when they dominated the American League All-Star roster. Billy Butler was a fine representative on the team, but he pales to past Royals stars like George Brett, Frank White, Amos Otis, Mike Sweeney and Bret Saberhagen.
I’m not a fan of booing, so I have to wonder why the jeers directed at Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano – the Home Run Derby captain who failed to put Billy Butler on the AL squad – affected him to the point that he went 0-for-10 in the competition. I can’t imagine a stadium full of fans booing Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali or any other All-Star caliber athlete turning his spine into jelly. The booing got out of hand, but when you pay that much for a ticket, I guess you have the right to make your vocal point of view known.
Did you hear Charlie “Warlock” Sheen attended the game? Tim Crone, the former activities director at Blue Springs High School, said the former “Two and a Half Men” star was sitting a few rows from him, but only lasted an inning or so because of the crush of female fans.
“He was wearing a Sinatra fedora and looked like he’d had a cocktail or two,” Crone said, “but he looked like he was having a good time.”
I was not impressed with the in-house All-Star hosts, who did their best to keep fans occupied during the commercial breaks with bombastic stunts that were featured on the video board. They were as annoying as a dripping faucet in the middle of the night. And I hope a video game company doesn’t sponsor future Midsummer Classics as the continuous animated figures of each All-Star player got old after one inning.
Like Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, who is about my age said, “We’re a couple of generations removed from all the stuff that goes on at a game. It’s not enough to just play an All-Star Game, they have to add all that other stuff.”
Finally, my favorite All-Star moment came from sharing the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself with my son Sean. He put his arm on my shoulder and said, “Dad, this is the coolest thing we’ve ever done together.”
It doesn’t get any better than that.
