Baseball at Its Best

Last night was a beautiful night for baseball in the Mountain West. In the middle of an unprecedented heat wave, yesterday was overcast and cooler. The smoke drifting over from Oregon and California, while tragic, actually helped set the atmosphere. The smoke-filled skies helped cool things down and made for some beautiful colors as the sun set. Against this backdrop, baseball's best met at Coor's Field in the annual All-Star Game. The Midsummer Classic has been a tradition for me since I was a kid, and the reason behind one of my biggest collection focuses, All-Star Game MVPs. The All-Star Game is the single biggest MLB game of the year to me.

Except last night, for the third straight All-Star Game, I wasn't watching.

Since my boys got to be old enough to play Little League, their state tournaments have coincided with the All-Star Game every year. So while the MLB All-Stars played, I was watching this game, also played in the Rocky Mountains.

 

Didn't I tell you it was a perfect night for baseball? This is my second son, Gavin, who singled, scored, lined out to third, and grounded out to shortstop on the night. His team advanced to the semi-finals, so they have two games tonight to play for the Utah Mustang League (3rd & 4th grade) state title. I may have missed the All-Star Game, but there was nowhere I would have rather been.

But congrats to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., who took home MVP honors and joined my list of PC players. He hit a solo home run and an RBI ground out to help the AL win (again).

Unfortunately for me, I haven't held on to every Vlad Jr. I've pulled, so these three cards are all I have outside of set builds to start my ASG MVP PC. But welcome to the club, Vlad!

Meanwhile tonight, while the professional baseball world remains quiet, I'll be cheering on the Salem Mets. It doesn't get any better than that.