All Star Fever in St. Louis

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The baseball All Star Game is in St. Louis Tuesday night. It may not be a big deal to much of the world, except maybe Japan, the Dominican Republic and some other Latin countries. My city is about to br crushed under the weight of the hype, commercialisn and corporate greed. When the event was last held in St. Louis in 1966, grandstand tickets cost $6. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $40 today. In fact, the face price is a several times more. And, for Cardinals season ticket holders like my office, you can get your usual seats for the event but you also have to buy the home run derby event the night before, a boring minor leaguers game and old-timers softball game, and so-call fanfest at our convention center, sort of a baseball theme park (which I hear is actually fun). So you have to buy the whole strip of tickets even if you only want to go to the All Star Game itself.

It's turned into a "we'll soak your wallet because we can" event. Having said that, Mrs. C and I are going to the game itself because it's a once-in-a-lifetime event and mostly because President Obama is throwing out the first pitch. That might be a once in a lifetime experience, too.