All Star Game Returns After 34 Years

Yes, I can remember some of what was happening back in 1972. But I can't recall the last time the Southern League All Stars played a game here. Of course I was living about 50 miles away back in '72 and I have no specific recollection of the Rebels during that time. In fact, it was 1979 before I even made a trip to Patterson field to see a game here in town. The Rebels left town not too long after that and until the Biscuits arrived three years ago, there was no real minor league baseball in town.

But with the Biscuits success, the league decided to allow them to host this year's event. Just under a week following the 4th of July it was time for the game. Now billboards have been up all over town for weeks, and the promos have been running during the regular season games and on the radio, but no one really knew how the locals would support this event.

Since the game tickets were not part of the season package, I had not planned ahead to make arrangements to get my tickets, so I ended up with seats on the grass in the outfield. As it turned out, this wasn't too bad, since it was cooler on the grass than in the stands surrounded by sun-backed concrete and steel. When the gates opened at 5:30, it was only 98 degrees with the sun still brightly warming the crowd. That allowed for a mere 90 minutes to kill before the scheduled start time.

Once the blanket was set up just behind the foul pole in right field, it looked like it would be a long, dull wait while we basted in the heat. But the home run derby cranked up and soon we were dodging baseballs landing all around us. It wasn't too bad sitting out there with a slight breeze blowing across the field.

Eventually the game started, although it was half an hour later than scheduled. Looking around, you could tell the place was packed. Later the attendance was announced as a record crowd of 7,454. It seemed like the actual crowd was a little smaller than the inaugural opening night crowd when the stadium first opened two years ago, but my vantage from the outfield was different than it was from the regular seats at that first game.

There was plenty of entertainment between innings with the comic antics of Reggie, Myron Noodleman (remember Jerry Lewis as the "Absent-Minded Professor") and the Famous Chicken. We even caught sight of Big Mo late in the game walking around the outfield.

The game moved along at a good pace and in the end, the

North All Stars soundly defeated the South All Star squad. It didn't matter to the remaining crowd, who were waiting for the fireworks show to start.

Once those ended, we headed home. We had been down at Riverwalk Stadium for almost seven hours, including our visit to the Fan Fest late in the afternoon and dinner at the Montgomery brewpub http://www.montgomerybrewpub.com/ before entering the stadium itself when the gates opened. This made for a long afternoon/evening and might have almost exceeded the tolerance limits for a 7 year-old. But in comparison, it wasn't any longer than a trip to Tuscaloosa for a football game, and it was cooler than several afternoon games in Bryant Denny have been in the past. So, the time wasn't too bad, and it was all here in town with no long drive to enjoy the event. Not too bad.