As the sporting world enters into the slowest period of the year, the MLB All-Star break, there is little to talk about except for the All-Star festivities. Some people love the Homerun Derby. Others truly enjoy the All-Star game itself. While truly die-hard baseball fans relish the opportunity to see young players before they have truly made it big in the All-Star Futures game. However there is one event that often gets severely overlooked. This event is easily my favorite event and it is the Taco Bell Legends and Celebrities Softball Game.
If you are not familiar with this game then I shall enlighten you. This game is a slow-pitch softball game that is played before the Homerun Derby and after the Futures game. The fence is brought in and the bases are also brought in to simulate a softball field. Much like the All-Star game the participants are divided into the National and American Leagues. This is where the game starts to get fun. The participants are a mix of former MLB players including many Hall-of-Famers and celebrities. Since the celebrities have obviously never played in the MLB they have no clear affiliation to any team. In order to keep the rosters even, the celebrities are paired with the team they root for. So for example Billy Crystal would play for the American League team as he is a lifelong Yankee fan and Kevin James who is a comedian and a big fan of the Mets would play for the National League due to his aforementioned support of the New York Metropolitans. As for the rules they are exactly the same as any baseball game.
The reason why I enjoy this game so much revolves around the spirit of the All-Star break and that would be fun. For several years now the main event, the All-Star game, has been tagged with the responsibility with determining homefield advantage for the winning side. Changing the rule has sucked out all of the fun that came with playing the game. The Homerun Derby has retained some semblance of a fun event but certain aspects possess a sense of professionalism. The Futures game puts the participants in the spotlight, granted a small spotlight but a spotlight nonetheless. The Legends and Celebrities game lends itself only a fun atmosphere.
The reason I say that the Legends and Celebrities game is only about fun is that no one cares about the result of the game. This is not to say the game is irrelevant but rather that the participants are playing to have fun, no different than any pick-up basketball game or stickball game in the middle of the street. Another aspect of the game is the blending of celebrities and hall of famers playing together. In the game today Nelly, the rapper, hit a homerun off recent Hall of Famer Richard "Goose" Gossage, and then later Ozzie Smith made a diving play and threw to firstbaseman Bobby Knight. Yes, you are thinking of the correct Bobby Knight, the same Bobby Knight who threw a chair across a basketball court in the middle of a NCAA basketball game. Where else can you see the king of the handlebar mustache Rollie Fingers hit a homerun off Goose Gossage. If you are a fan of trash talk then you will be happy to know that ESPN radio hosts Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg are the managers of each side and spend the whole game ripping on each other and each other's performance in the game. This game is one of the most entertaining games of the year with Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium coming in around the top of the list.
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