There is no better time to go to Minneapolis Minnesota than in the summer time, and when baseball is involved it is a home run! The city is beautiful, incredibly clean, and very welcoming to out-of-towners... in this case, baseball fans from all over the country for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. Here is a recap of some of my favorite moments in the 5 days I was in Twins Country.
1. FOX SPORTS GIRLS flew in from their regions to give fans a first-hand experience of the 2014 ASG in Minneapolis. It is always a fun reunion we look forward to when we have the chance to meet up. We may be rivals when it comes to our teams, but its all love when we get together!
2. FAN FEST is always a must-see event when a city hosts the All Star Game. This year we spent a lot of our time at the FOX Sports North Booth in the middle of the Minneapolis Convention Center. We took pictures of fans that could be printed out and used as a souvenir. Fans could also go on our stage and "Be an Anchor" by reading off a prompter. It was a hit! Fans of all ages made their way over to have their chance with the mic. There were many other booths around the Convention Center - at one of those booths you could have your very own Topps Baseball Card made!
Photo gallery of Kristine's trip.
3. MALL OF AMERICA is by-far the largest mall I have been to. I mean, what has a full-size aquarium, every restaurant imaginable, and an amusement park, plus clothing stores all within the same walls?! We helped host the Pepsi Real Big All-Star summer event in the middle of Mall of America where we gave away signed baseballs, pictures, and t-shirts to fans that could answer our trivia questions. for the rest of the week I had fans come up and tell me they won a t-shirt or one of the signed items! Jack Morris had a meet & greet and had time on the mic to answer fan questions and check out the home run simulator - I'm proud to say I hit 2 out of 3 HR's while I had my turn up to the plate, (sign me up for HR Derby 2015). Speaking of home run derby... see below.
4. HOME RUN DERBY has always been something I look forward to every year and this year had something extra special about it. First off, how about Todd Frazier making it to the final round against reigning champ, Yoenis Cespedes? He made me proud to wear my Cincinnati Reds gear around Target Field. It was a cool night but fans still came out in droves and HR Derby kicked off with a beautiful rainbow right over the ballpark. I can only imagine how many home runs will be hit next year at Great American Ball Park. we may go into triple digits (kidding) but all jokes aside, it sure will be fun to watch!
5. ALL-STAR GAME DAY kicked off with a parade of All-Stars, fans and mascots from all over the country! People lined the streets cheering when their teammates drove by for a little foreshadowing of what was to come that evening. What an exciting game it was and a beautiful farewell to Derek Jeter. The American League pulled off the win, 5-3, this year and every inning was worth watching!
My experience in Minnesota - meeting the fans, reuniting with the FOX Sports Girls, seeing what Minneapolis had to offer - made me SO ready for the 2015 ASG in Cincinnati. Get ready, Reds fans, it will be here before we know it!
