Cardinals 3rd Baseman Nolan Arenado, Rockies Pitcher German Marquez, and All-Star Game MVP Vladamir Guerrero Jr. all salute the Coors Field Crowd at the 91st Mid-Summer Classic. (Photos: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
The 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game may not have been a barn-burner, but was still a remarkable night, considering Covid-19 forced the cancellation of last year's game.
The American League won 5-2 for their 8th straight victory over the Senior Circuit, thanks in part to Toronto Blue Jays 1st Baseman Vladamir Guerrero Jr.
The son of Hall-of-Famer Vlad Gurrero Sr. looked poised in his 1st Mid-Summer Classic, driving in a pair of runs en route to becoming the youngest Most Valuable Player in the games history at 22-years-old.
The highlight or highlights of the night for the hometown fans came in 2 parts, or perhaps 3, depending on your perspective. During pre-game introductions, the Rockies fans in attendance gave Cardinals 3rd Baseman Nolan Arenado, who spent his 1st 8 years in the Mile High City, as big of an ovation as most can remember in recent All-Star Game History. His former manager Rox Skipper, Bud Black, who was on the National League Bench as an assistant to Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts and Rockies Ace German Marquez also enjoyed a nice round of applause from their fans.
But what surprised some and certainly Arenado, was the 2nd ovation he got in his first at-bat, as he came up to the plate in the Bottom of 1st inning. "that ovation when I was running to the line, that was amazing, it was probably the best thing to happen to me in a while."
For Marquez, who was making his 1st All-Star appearance, he said it couldn't have gone better. "I got a 1-2-3 inning, that's all you can ask for." The Rockies Ace, who was perfect in the 4th inning, the only he pitched. He also said that he grew up in Venezuela watching the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game and it may have even been more than he expected.
But the real winner in all of the All-Star festivities was likely the city of Denver. 2 nights in a row, 50,000 fans packed the ballpark at 20th and Blake, restaurants and hotels and businesses downtown all made money, and as it does every time there's a big event, The Mile High City put on a great show.
The fact that they only had 13 weeks to throw it together is truly remarkable.