A Whiff of What All-Star Week is Like
I Visit Philadelphia in the Most Sandwich Way Possible
For every baseball fan, seeing the MLB All-Star Game has to be on your bucket list. For me, I’ve gone back and forth between “nah, can’t afford it” and “that would be pretty cool,” but the idea is always top of mind. Whether you’re a fan of the “Just Had To Have Been There, Chump!” flow or love how one city becomes a global baseball festival, there’s always a bit of a buzz around All-Star Game time. Plus, baseball has one of the remaining true all-star formats, so they have that going for them too.
This writer got to be credentialed press (through my affiliation with the Black Baseball Mixtape), and I got to see what All-Star week was for the first time ever. Well, sort of. For a bunch of logistical reasons I won’t get into here (lemme just say Unlimited PTO isn’t truly unlimited, y’all), I got to experience two nights of ancillary events and festivities. By the time people were trying their hand at the ASG foodie lineup, I was on a plane back to reality. Indeed, the game is going to feature one food item from every other team in baseball, including this mama jama from Kansas City that can be only described as a “Hot Dog Wellington.”
So the first thing you need to know is that the town has people ready for baseball stuff like the week before anything starts. And Major League Baseball did the admittedly savvy thing by having it in Philadelphia during America’s 250th birthday. If you don’t like the color off-white/parchment or think Ben Franklin is overrated, TOO BAD, because you’re gonna see those dudes everywhere! It was actually my second time in Philadephia, with my first being an awful cautionary travel tale about being in a city for a full day without a place to rest or take a nap. This time was better and I got the opportunity to experience city history to boot.
I got to learn about Octavious V. Catto for the first time. Catto, a staunch civil rights activist who fought for the voting rights of black people, was also an avid cricket and baseball player. I mean, I should’ve known this, I was there:
True story.
Also, I got to visit the All-Star Village. Which, while it’s less a village and more of a giant convention and expo space complete with activations from cool brands and other brands you couldn’t care less about, it was the first time I saw one that was exclusively about baseball.
Then there was the MLB Draft. Not sure if MLB needs a draft in the vein of other sports like football and basketball, but I’ve got to say that I was there. And the HBCU Swingman Classic was the first time I got to see the culture come out en masse. Yes, there was my experience at the Rickwood game in 2025, but this was another level.
I’ve learned I’m terrible at getting selfies and asking famous people for said selfies. Interviewing celebs in a podcast environment? Fine. People chasing me down because I’m the celebrity in a given situation? Great. Me running down former players, and begging them to answer Mount Rushmore questions and ask for a picture? The worst. Which sounds noble as I type this, but I also realize in both baseball content (and wrestling content before that) that I’m pretty much invisible. I felt like Bizarre in that D12 video: (3:54 mark)
Next week my LinkedIn post is going to be: What Philadelphia Taught Me on How to Brag More.
Either way, it was an experience and it felt great to see everything. And even though I’m going to be home when the main events are happening (the Home Run Derby just concluded as I type this), I am already looking forward to next year. Or at least the next event.
Be sure to check out the Black Baseball Mixtape for more MLB All-Star, baseball, and softball coverage.
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