NEW YORK -- For all the All-Stars who have played at Yankee Stadium in its 84 seasons, never have so many appeared there at one time.
| Advertisement |
|||
| |||
In what is being billed as the largest gathering ever of baseball stars, more than 40 Hall of Famers have committed to attending a ceremony before the All-Star Game July 15 in the stadium's final year.
"Since we are lucky enough to have the All-Star Game in the stadium's farewell year, there's a heavy burden on us to send it off with a grand gesture, a gesture that's fitting in the stadium's place in history," Tim Brosnan, Major League Baseball's executive vice president for business, said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the event.
Earlier that day, the Hall of Famers and this year's All-Stars will participate in a parade down Manhattan's Sixth Avenue. They will travel 18 blocks from 40th Street to 58th Street over more than 95,000 square feet of red carpet.
The on-field ceremony will air live on Fox, while a replay of the parade will be shown before the game.
"Being here in New York and it being the last year of old Yankee Stadium, I think they want to put on a good show. ... I think it's befitting to do that for this All-Star game," Hall of Famer Frank Robinson said.
MLB also announced several green initiatives, including distributing reusable All-Star tote bags to fans in seven cities and using hybrid buses to transport fans between All-Star events.
