EVENTS
Sportsman of the Year
Heisman Trophy
Swimsuit 2001
CENTERS
Fantasy Central
Inside Game
Video Plus
Statitudes
Your Turn
Message Boards
Email Newsletters
Golf Guide
Cities
CNNSI.com GROUP
Sports Illustrated
Life of Reilly
SI Women
SI for Kids
Press Room
TBS/TNT Sports
CNN Languages
COMMERCE
SI Customer Service
SI Media Kits
Get into College
Sports Memorabilia
TeamStore
|
 |
Donnie Baseball, fan
Mattingly sees the other side of the Midsummer Classic
Posted: Monday July 09, 2001 12:54 PM
Updated: Monday July 09, 2001 7:24 PM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com
SEATTLE -- While he was walking around downtown Seattle during the weekend, wandering through the happy baseball masses with his 9-year-old son, Don Mattingly had a bit of a revelation about the All-Star Game.
"When you're playing, you have to hustle here to the game, you have to hustle home after it," said Mattingly, who played in six All-Star Games (1984-89) during a 14-year career with the New York Yankees from 1982-95. "You see it from a different perspective than the fans see it."
What the players generally see is this: Airplane, a hotel, media, some other players, media, a few friends and family, media, a hotel, maybe a restaurant, the hotel, game day, media, the game, more media, maybe a quick bite to eat, maybe a hotel and another airplane. Somewhere, there in the background the whole time, are thousands of screaming fans, too.
That, though, is not what Mattingly saw this time around. This time was a lot different, especially here in Seattle where the hometown Mariners have eight representatives in Tuesday night's game.
"They are talking baseball as soon as you get to the airport," he said.
As he and his son, Jordan, walked through the crowds at FanFest on Saturday -- FanFest is a sort of baseball fan's amusement park, a chance to play interactive games, step in a batting cage, learn a little bit about the history of the game and rub elbows with former major leaguers -- "Donnie Baseball" saw the people adorned in Ichiro jerseys, the streets teeming with activity, the souvenir stands, the restaurants catering to fans.
There were people talking about the Mariners, about the Home Run Derby on Monday night, about the game Tuesday. About the Mariners playing the Dodgers. About the second half.
About baseball.
He was stopped once in a while by fans who recognized him. Mattingly sports a goatee instead of the bushy mustache he favored as a player, but he still looks fit. Mostly, though, Donnie Baseball walked though the throngs as just another fan with his son.
On Sunday, Mattingly said he used to be torn about coming to the All-Star Game. He had to weigh all the hassles of running around and signing autographs, talking to the media and playing in the game against three days of much-needed rest.
"But it's funny," he says now, "I always came back rejuvenated."
 | The Derby
The exhibition within the exhibition, the Home Run Derby is all about -- well, exhibitionism. Throw it up and let's hit the stuffing out of it. Last year's champ and a fan favorite, the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, is back. Fans also will expect big things from San Francisco's Barry Bonds (39 homers at the break) and Seattle's own RBI freak, Bret Boone. Texas' Alex Rodriguez (ex-Mariner) is there for the booing. And Arizona's Luis Gonzalez, hot on Bonds' heels, could surprise. Also competing: Colorado's Todd Helton, Anaheim's Troy Glaus, and Oakland Jason Giambi.
| The Replacements
Eight, you have to think, is enough. Maybe not for the fans in Seattle. But it's plenty for everyone else. Mike Cameron made it eight Mariners in the game when he was named to the AL team Sunday. At this rate, if we put the game off until, say, next week, we might as well just have the entire Seattle roster play and forget everyone else.
| The Replacements II
Cliff Floyd was named to the NL team after Rick Reed of the Mets dropped out. The Marlins' left fielder, Mets manager Bobby Valentine says, was No. 31 all along. Or was he No. 30? Ahh, let's not get into that.
| Not here
The focus, rightfully, should be on the players who are here. But this is an All-Star Game without Ken Griffey Jr., without Mark McGwire. Without Pedro Martinez. No Nomar Garciaparra. And there are others. Every year has its injury casualties. This year -- especially considering McGwire and Griffey and the Home Run Derby -- the list of hurt and missing weighs a little heavier than most.
|  |
| The Derby -- C'mon. You like it, too. You'll watch. Sure, they're serving up big ol' tomatoes for pitches. But Sosa hit one some 500 feet last year in Atlanta. That's ridiculous. So, The Glance's prediction for Monday night's winner is ... Sammy. He's in a groove and he loves the spotlight. Sammy. For sure. |  |
| SoDo -- Stands for South of Downtown, the district in Seattle where Safeco Field sits and the Seahawks' new football stadium is being built. It's being transformed from a largely industrial area to a shopping, dining and sports destination, linking the south part of downtown to the rest of Seattle's fairly lively downtown. Other cities have a similar idea. Seattle is getting it right. | |
| Cliff Floyd -- Whatever happened between the Marlins' left fielder and National League manager Bobby Valentine ... well, it may not be forgotten. But this chapter is over. Welcome to Seattle, Cliff Floyd. You deserve to be here. | |
| The schedule -- One reason some players balk at coming to the All-Star Game is the strain it puts on them. The Mets and Yankees, for instance, finished a late game Sunday night and then had to be in Seattle for a 9:45 a.m. PT press conference on Monday morning. That makes for a short night. (Not for all. Some players, like the Yankees' Roger Clemens, came over earlier.) Sure, there's no crying in baseball for guys who make millions a year. But the schedule is a tough one. |  |
 | Maybe it was the double espresso
"To have those jitters when you come into a major league ballpark, everyone should have that feeling"
-- Toby Hall, the Durham Bulls' catcher who was named the MVP in Sunday's All-Star Futures Game. |
 |
| Only one All-Star Game ended in a tie. That was in 1961 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, after a 30-minute rain delay in the ninth inning. |
| Did you know that Seattle averages 36.2 inches of rainfall a year? At least that's what it says on an All-Star Game press release. That's less than New York (40.3 inches) or Washington D.C. (39). |
| Not that it matters, but the National Weather Service says there is a zero percent chance of precipitation in Seattle for the game Tuesday night. |
| Not that it matters, of course, because it takes less than 20 minutes to close the roof at Safeco Field. |
| The fastest nine-inning All-Star Game ever was done in an hour and 53 minutes, in 1940 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. |
| The longest took 3:41, in Anaheim in 1967. That went 15 innings before the National League won it on a home run by Cincinnati's Tony Perez. |
 |
| Now that he's here, we want to see Cliff Floyd get a hit. |
| Yeah, we want to see the Randy Johnson-Ichiro matchup just like everyone else. |
| And, while we're at it, sure. Bring on the Mike Piazza-Roger Clemens thing, too. |
| Bret Boone to pull a Spud Webb in the Home Run Derby. Don't think he'll do it. But it'd be something to see. |
| Manny Ramirez to go 500 feet or more with one. He can do it. If he plays along. |
| Fewer TV timeouts during the Derby, which ought to take about 45 minutes but will go much longer than that. |
|
|
|
