ST. LOUIS – President Obama started the MLB All Star evening out with the first pitch and the American League  finished it off with another victory over their rival National League All Stars.The 4-3 victory is the 13th in a row for the AL, a record streak that again earned them home field advantage in the World Series.

In the 7th inning Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Carl Crawford perfectly timed a line drive off the bat of Colorado Rockies’ Brad Hawpe, tracking the ball down to the fence, leaping and robbing him of a home run. The highlight of the game earned Crawford the Ted Williams All Star MVP award. Crawford also went 1-for-3 at the plate.

“It’s got to be the top play of my career,” said Crawford. “I don’t think I’ve ever robbed a home run before, so I picked a good time to do it tonight. It’s definitely the best catch I’ve ever made.”

After AL starting pitcher Roy Halladay gave up 4 hits and three runs over the first two innings, the next seven AL hurlers that took the mound held the NL scoreless, allowing just one more hit over the final seven innings.

The game was played in front of 46,760 fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Other All Star Notes: Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder won the 2009 State Farm home run derby over All Star break. Fielder, who along with his father Cecil Fielder is a member of the Sports Climax “Fat Bastards” gallery, showed how to throw his weight around, knocking 23 over the fence.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

PHOENIX – The NBA All-Star game on Sunday reminded us why it is sometimes beneficial to suit up a handful of players by popularity as opposed to talent and productivity. That contest is clearly not about pure talent and competition, it is about entertainment and entertain is exactly what Shaquille O’Neal did in front of his hometown fans in Phoenix.With his better years way behind him, who would have thought Shaq would end up putting down 17 points in less than 11 minutes going 8 of 9 from the field. Even more of a stretch was thinking ex-Laker teammate Kobe Bryant and Shaq would be sharing any hardware again, especially an All-Star MVP trophy.

Kobe led the West with 27 points in the 146-119 victory over the East.

When asked about sharing the award with Shaq, Kobe appeared to enjoy the moment but made it clear the players weren’t planning to spend any upcoming holidays together. “We’re not going to go back to the room and watch Steel Magnolias or something like that, you know what I’m saying, crying, all that stuff,” said Kobe. “We had a good time. That’s all.”

“It felt like old times”, said Shaq, “I miss those times”.

One of the game’s lighter moments which made highlight reels around the country was Shaq’s Globetrotter-type bounce-pass through Dwight Howard’s legs followed by a return pass from Chris Paul and a finishing slam dunk by Big Daddy. The play brought a rousing response from the crowd and a row of laughs from both benches.

West starters Phoenix Suns’ forward Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 19 while New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul finished with 14 helpers for the West. LeBron James led the East with 20 points.

For the complete box score visit NBA.com.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax