History

You knew it was going to be a different type of an All-Star game when Dock Ellis served up a dandy for the sports writers in the days leading up to the contest.

“Ain’t no way,” Ellis, who was black, told reporters, “they gonna start two brothers against each other in the All-Star game.”

After becoming an American tradition following its inception in 1933, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game evolved into the “Midsummer Classic” through some memorable moments in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The exhibition eventually moved beyond being just a game to include a home run contest and many other activities that gave fans the opportunity to see their heroes in a completely different atmosphere than ever before.

A quick note before I begin.  I will only be looking at players selected within 10 picks of each Pirate pick.  Keep that in mind when you read this.  At the end of the article I will put together the Pirates 2009 Opening Day roster with the adjusted picks.

It all started in 1997 when the Pirates, with the 8th overall pick, selected J.J. Davis.  Davis was an OF from California who was a 3-sports star.  He also had scholarship offers from USC (Basketball), and Oregon State (Football). 

Since its inception in 1933, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game has provided fans an annual opportunity to see most of the great stars of the game on the same field.

I grew up in a home where the vast majority of the time one of two things were being watched on television: the news or sports. By the age of 10 I easily knew more about the Giants and 49ers of San Francisco than whatever the most popular cartoon of the era was.

In this environment I learned how to be a good sports fan. I was taught to be fanatical about my team and at the same time appreciate the talents of athletes regardless of who they played for.

Casey Stengel's Brooklyn Dodgers hosted the hated New York Giants in a holiday double header on May 31, 1934.

Giants' manager Bill Terry had helped to fan the flames during the winter in a New York Herald Tribune interview.

"Is Brooklyn Still in the League?"

"Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago will be the teams we'll have to beat," Terry said. "I don't think the Braves will do as well as they did last year."

Since the All-Star Game is in part a fan popularity contest, there are other deserving players who didn't make the team. Since each team in both leagues has to be represented, there are players who make the team who don't really deserve it.

The Twins have seen both sides of these unfortunate outcomes. In 1987, despite having a playoff contending club that would later win the World Series, they had only one representative on the AL All-Star game team.

If an NFL or MLB team ever needed a player, who do they look for? They go into the Twins or Vikings organizations.

Through the years, Minnesota franchises have done very well in bringing up great players only to let them walk and become superstars in other places.

Most notable is David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox.

For six years, the Twins groomed Ortiz to be their designated hitter. After his best season with the team in 2002 where he hit 20 home runs and 75 RBI's, they let him go to the Red Sox.

In my humble opinion, baseball, more than any other sport, lends itself to historical analysis and the reliving of its greatest moments. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" immediately come to mind.

Record breaking moments, amazing streaks, and heroic postseason plays are often times retold to the point they become legendary.

"Ya gotta believe" are the magic words, the "open sesame" of baseball history, immortalized by Tug McGraw in 1973. But the baseball good wish fairy doesn't always respond. Chicago Cubs fans and players remember the year, 1969, when the wish was never fulfilled.

In the span of two months, the Cubs slipped from nine-and-a-half games in front of the Mets to eight games behind.

"It's true," said the late Jack Brickhouse before his death in 1998. He watched it all go down in '69 from the great heights of the radio announcer's booth. "The Cubs lost it," he said.