[norva13x]

July 4th, 2000

It had been since June 28th that Los Angeles last had a home game, so there was plenty of time to prepare City of Angels Stadium for the 1st Annual All-Star Game.
Despite the advanced time there was still plenty of work to be done. Throughout the morning since the sun peaked over the grandstand around 7 AM, the stadium crew were working on all the final touches for the game. Sound checks, lighting etc. were all tested many times until it worked seamlessly.
At 11:30 AM MLB chairman Mitch Washler, one time commissioner of the Big 10 Conference in the NCAA, arrived to the stadium. He had a scheduled press conference at 12:15 in which he would be flanked by the presidents of both the American and National Leagues.
National League president Rob Burde had already arrived, the two shook hands and talked baseball for a few minutes. Business didn't even seem important, there was a certain buzz and excitement for the All-Star game and everyone involved was excited to get it underway.
At 12:10 the conference room was ready, and AL President Brian Ster was the last to shuffle in and take his seat at the table in front. The cameras clicked and flashed and whirred as the chairman spoke about the first half of the season.
It was all glowing, attendance and TV numbers were great, better than expected. While viewership dropped after two weeks it still remained higher than expected. Merchandise was flying off the shelf and pro baseball was proving it could not only work, but thrive.
The conference lasted about 10 minutes before the three men began fielding questions, which in itself lasted almost 15 minutes before they finally wrapped it up. One tantalizing bit of info was revealed during the conference, the chairman said there was much talk about expanding baseball and that a big announcement would be made December. He declined to comment any more on it however.

During the afternoon the teams for each league met on the field and took light batting and fielding practices. At 4:30 PM the gates opened for fans. It was the 4th of July, and tat didn't go unnoticed, by the time the gates opened fans were already spread around the parking lot, grilling out and celebrating baseball and the holiday at large.
At 6:30, thirty minutes before game time the stands were mostly filled, the lights dimmed and fireworks blasted through the air as the teams were introduced. The Dragon players got an extra loud applause when their names were called.

Finally at 7:05 it was game time:
It started fast, 37 year old Leslie Miller of the American League pitched first, he walked his very first batter 22 year old star 1B Pablo Nieves. Two singles later Nieves crossed the plate to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. To cap it off the inning Martin Peyton crossed home with a 1 out fly out to take a 2-0 lead.
It remained that way until the bottom of the 4th when the Americans took a 4-2 lead, the Nationals responded the very next inning by putting up 4 themselves to take a 6-4 lead.
To make matters worse the Nationals added 5 more in the top of the 6th, in the bottom of the 8th the Americans started a 4 run rally to close the gap to 11-8, but 3 groundouts in the 9th ended the game with that score.

Jesus Delgado, catcher for the Titans took the MVP of the game after going 3-5 with a triple and 3 RBIs. "It was quite an experience," he commented after the game, "to be out there with he best players in baseball and to be part of a new tradition, I am truly honored."