A Year In The Making
By, John Ginder - jginder@capitalregionsports.com
TROY – It was one year ago in Wappingers Falls, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades that it was officially announced that the 2008 version of the New York-Penn League All-Star Game will be played at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium home of the Tri-City ValleyCats. It will mark the first game of its kind in this area.
Knowing the staff of the ValleyCats, preparation for the game was already in motion before the announcement was made. I can remember feeling the excitement from the staff during the final few weeks of the 2007 season and all the ideas I overheard. Their dreams came to fruition and all of their hard work paid off Tuesday night.
In a mildly disappointing season so far for the ValleyCats, if you said that a ‘Cats pitcher would be lights out striking out two batters in his relief appearance and the ‘Cats representatives in the field would produce half of the hits for the National League, including the game-tying and the game-winner, you would be looked at as if you had two heads. Baseball is a funny game with nothing that is impossible.
ValleyCats outfielder J.B. Shuck started the game for the National League All-Stars and luckily played the whole game. Shuck went 2-3, with two walks, an RBI, and the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth. He would be on base four times during the game.
Philip Disher started the game at first base getting one hit (a double) in two at-bats.
Philip Rummel would enter the game in the sixth inning for his relief appearance and would throw a perfect inning striking out two American League All-Stars and would collect a hold for the National League.
‘Cats third basemen David Flores would be the hero of the night going 1-2 with a game-winning two-run double and would pick up the All-Star Game MVP Award.
The ValleyCats players were well represented with these four All-Stars, and would send all 6,149 fans home with something to cheer about.
Tuesday night it didn’t matter which team in the Major Leagues you root for or where your loyalties lie. There was an instance that was brought to my attention to prove my last statement. There were fans wearing New York Yankee apparel that were soliciting autographs from Lowell Spinners players. Lowell is the Single-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Under normal circumstances those fans would probably be banished from the Yankee Universe for life, but last night was different.
I had the chance to be on the field for the home run derby and was able to see fans from all over the area pledging their allegiance to their hometown teams by wearing hats, jerseys, and shirts showing off their colors. It was quite an amazing sight. By games end there were no more affiliations there were just fans of the game.
It is a shame that the game had to come to an end. The ValleyCats staff can finally rest after putting on an extraordinary event. I am sure that they are already planning on what to do the next time, and there will most definitely be a next time, the All-Star Game comes back to Troy.
The ValleyCats will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Aberdeen to face the Ironbirds. There are only a handful of home games remaining at “The Joe”. The ‘Cats will return home this Sunday for a 5pm start against the Brooklyn Cyclones (Class-A Affiliate of the New York Mets).