Wow, that was fast. It seems like our All-Star moment just got started, and it's already over. But like all great holidays, we packed some of the best memories into the final day.
Too starstruck to brag
Since Mayor Betsy Hodges has given Minneapolitans license to brag, it won't seem immodest to point this out: We really know how to stage a parade.
Thousands of starstruck fans turned out for Tuesday's All-Star Red Carpet Show, in which players, managers and celebrities were driven down Nicollet Mall and Seventh Street in a convoy of convertibles and pickups, then interviewed Hollywood-style upon their arrival at Target Field.
The entire route was lined with people, with the crowds 10 to 12 deep in some spots on the red-carpet-covered mall, and the skyways were nearly impassable. Workers in the Medical Arts Building leaned out of windows to capture the scene on their iPhones. Bellmen, restaurant servers and security guards strained to get a look at the parade from their workstations. Fire Lake restaurant at the Radisson put on a tailgater, grilling hot dogs and burgers in the valet parking area.
The players seemed to enjoy the parade as much as the crowd. Most had their families with them in the vehicles, including lots of adorable kids. The only people who didn't seem to have a good time were the street preachers predicting the apocalypse — and maybe the guy in the Twins jersey who hollered at Baltimore's Nelson Cruz. "Oh, Cruz,'' he lamented, waving at a player whose 28 home runs and 74 RBI are second in the American League. "Why did we not sign you?''
History bags big bucks
And you thought the All-Star T-shirts were expensive. A handful of lucky — and very rich — buyers snagged the ultimate souvenirs of All-Star Week during a live auction Tuesday at FanFest, topped by a first baseman's mitt used and autographed by Lou Gehrig that sold for $287,500.
More than 450 pieces of historic memorabilia were displayed at FanFest throughout the week and auctioned off Tuesday. Other big items included a Jackie Robinson bat ($80,500) and a Harmon Killebrew jersey from the 1958 Washington Senators ($40,250), but items such as a Twins pennant from the 1960s sold for as little as $40.
For those who weren't ready to empty the 401(k), the Allen Edmonds shop in City Center offered perhaps the most unique souvenirs in town. It sells bottle openers made of game-used bats ($95) and silver cuff links inlaid with game-used baseballs ($170) from most major-league teams; they have holograms attached that describe the exact provenance. You also can buy shoes laser-engraved with your favorite team's logo.
Field of Wiffle dreams
Among the random, sweet surprises of All-Star Week: the makeshift public Wiffle ball field laid out on the floor of Peavey Plaza on Nicollet Mall. Tucked in a quiet spot below street level, it wasn't exactly a field of dreams, with its base paths marked by blue duct tape and a fence constructed of shipping pallets. But plenty of baseball fans still managed to find and enjoy it, stopping to play an inning or two before continuing on their way.
$8 million to charity
The All-Star Game left more enduring legacies as well. Major League Baseball teamed with the Twins and Pohlad family charities for $8 million in contributions tied to the game, the most in the event's history. The gifts will renovate buildings at Fort Snelling into housing for veterans; improve several youth ball fields, the Ronald McDonald house and a Boys and Girls Club facility; and make a $500,000 grant to a Rochester food bank.
