Pod-Cast: 2012 All-Star Game

The 83^rd All-Star Game took place this past Tuesday evening at the Royals Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Although the National League beat the American League 8-0 the overall, the event was anything but a shutout. This All-Star Game is being touted as one of the most successful due to the outpouring of fan attendance and social media involvement. But a lesser known, yet equally successful branch of All-Star week, were the numerous community based events and improvements that happened.

The Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) was thrilled, excited and proud to be a part of it. We made our way out to Kansas City late last Thursday to kick off All-Star week with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Cleveland Park, the diamond of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City (BGCKC) which serves the Kansas City branch of RBI. BTF awarded BGCKC a $50,000 grant to further renovate the fields which had been built in 2004. In a partnership that had never happened before, the MO-KAN chapter of the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) evaluated the facility, pointed out the areas that needed to be renovated and dedicated volunteers and numerous hours to the renovation. The ribbon cutting event, in which our new oversized (and I mean oversized) BTF scissors were put to good use, took place during the Jr. RBI Classic, a youth baseball and softball tournament.

 As Friday afternoon comes to an end and MLB returns to a post All-Star Game calm, we are proud to look back on such a successful event. Perhaps some of you feel proud of your National League for whooping the American League, or maybe some of you are reliving a great play made by your favorite player, but for us we are proud of the lasting legacy that the All Star Game will have on Kansas City.  This pride, unlike the streamers at Kauffman Stadium, will take much longer than a week to dissipate.