"So...the Fed, huh?" Who's that playing Shortstop for the AL?

On Tuesday Major League Baseball’s Mid-Summer Classic will be played at none-other than Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. I remember watching the All-Star Game on TV and loving it. I enjoyed watching all the cool players of that time all playing on the same team. There were always lots of home runs and lots of action and back in those days, the National League always won. Plus, it helped with bargaining in my baseball card trading.

Now that I’m older, while my interest in baseball is increasing again, I am not as knowledgeable about the sport or the players, the American League always wins, and while there is still plenty of action and home runs, there is now something else ubiquitous that I don’t remember as a young fan. Constant corporate sponsorship and advertising.

Since this year’s game is being played at Yankee Stadium and it is the last year of the original Yankee Stadium existence, the corporate presence will likely be more over the top than usual. Not only will the ads be flying fast and furious, the only people attending the game will be CEO’s, Chairperson’s of the Board and their guests, in the following order of importance: 1) clients/customers 2) suppliers/partners 3) mistresses/boy toys 4) family members.

It would be great if more of the tickets were made available to the general public so that they could have a great memory of a baseball game played by its greatest players. Alas, this is not the world we live in. Most people who have enough money to buy these tickets are either not interested in the least or already have their tickets.

Meanwhile, the rest of the tickets are gobbled up by corporations and given to the bigwigs to entertain others who are probably not interested in the game at all.

Hey, what can I say, I’m a fan, and I’ll watch if possible. But thinking about how the game will only be played a short train ride away and also knowing that a bunch of corporate stooges will be deciding how to best present their next big write-down or massive layoffs to the media doesn’t really sit well with me.

On another, unrelated note: how does this guy not make the American League roster?

I don't know either...