Growing all-star tradition has deep roots in the past

My beloved mother was a fountain of truisms.

One of her favorites was “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Mom was not a big sports fan, although she did a masterful job tolerating my father’s fly fishing and my basketball.

When the players take the field in New York for tonight’s annual Major League All-Star baseball game, they should be reminded that one of the events, the Home Run Derby, which was held yesterday, actually got its official start as a TV show in 1959. If you’re old enough to remember that series, the matches, if you will, were held at the old Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, not the one in Chicago.

Rules for the affair were similar to the ones established for present-day competition. According to Wikipedia, if a batter did not swing and the pitch was a strike, that was considered an out.

That thinking wouldn’t sit well with many of today’s participants. But back in the original series, players didn’t complain.

I have many fond memories of watching sluggers such as Hank Aaron – he did all his long-ball exploits with just a swing of his enormous wrists – Ernie Banks; Al Kaline, a personal favorite; Mickey Mantle – I hated the Yankees, but I loved Mantle – and Willie Mays, to name a few.

One of the offshoots of this spectacular display of power was the printing of home run derby baseball cards. Youngsters smart enough to hang on to those jewels – they were larger than normal baseball cards – have a rich reward, for they are worth several hundred dollars in value in pristine condition.

The Major League Baseball All-Star game is always a personal favorite around my house. Of course, Red Sox participation always ranks at the top of my list for enjoyment of all the festivities.

I must be honest, however, when I tell you that I am not a big fan of fan involvement in the selection of the rosters. Back in the day, managers picked their teams, primarily based on a players’ performances during the first half of the season.

As Sox fans, we always figured the so-called halfway point of the action gave a pretty good determination of how the Olde Towne Team would fare in the second half.

This year may be a good indication that the Red Sox are, obviously, in the hunt. Bullpen insufficiencies continue to plague Boston, but the return of slugger David Ortiz seems to be the variable most people turn to when gauging second-half success.

The 2008 Home Run Derby is over, and it’s time to play this year’s All-Star game.

I’ll always remember those old black-and-white Home Run Derby cards from the early days.

I just wish I still had those beauties.

30-Second Time Out

Every year about this time I think back to my only all-star appearance. It was in 1972 in an Amateur Softball Association of America-sanctioned all-star game for the Jimmy Fund, sponsored locally by Mike’s Old Tavern, a local watering hole, and Sleepers, a clothes emporium, in Bangor.

That year, I was selected to pitch against the likes of former Bangor High stars Jimmy Nelson and Bob Kelley; former Orono star Joel McCluskey; former Brewer High star Donnie Rowe; and former Dexter Regional High star Rusty Clukey, to name a few.

Every home run that day garnered a $50 donation from area businesses.

Hmmm, I’m thinking. Was I chosen because I was a good pitcher or because I gave up a lot of home runs? And there were a bunch of them that day.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net