The All-Star game helps me reflect on why I am so enthralled with baseball. I will be the first to admit... the game can be boring. It is not the fast paced excitement of this MTV age (like basketball). Its a pastoral game, ever so rich in tradition. Its a game of summer, played on grass in the sun or on a warm summer night. It develops throughout the season, or over many seasons, like a good novel.

This year we have many great stories unfolding. Will Bonds break McGuire's HR record? Cal Ripkin... the Ironman, homers in his last All-Star Game. The Red Sox, once again will make a run for the World Series after being denied for nearly 100 years. Great Japanese players like Ichiro are taking the US Major Leagues by storm. Baseball is a game to be savored.