Before the game, a parade delivers players and pagentry
He placed two blue folding chairs behind the metal barricade.
After a few minutes sweating in the Miami sun, Eric Potter was glad he had a place to sit.
“We didn’t bring the chairs last year,” said Potter, who grew up in Kansas City. “This year, we learned.”
Potter, a 40-year-oldRoyals fan, and his son, Brett, 11, set up lawn chairs 15 minutes before the AllStar Red Carpet Parade began Tuesday afternoon on Biscayne Boulevard.
As they sat in their custommade royal blue Kansas City jerseys they watched the National League andAmerican League AllStars, one by one, ride down the red carpet in the back of pickup trucks.
Last year, when the father and son went to All-Star weekend in San Diego, they were forced to stand. This year’s experience has been better, Potter said, partly because they were able to snag a homer off the bat of Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas during Monday night’sHome Run Derby.
They were hoping to catch another one at Tuesday’s All-Star Gamebefore they fly backhometo Alabama.
“Plus, we gotta get some beach time in before we leave,” Potter said.
The paradewas just one part of the entertainment for fans ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game. As fans walked towardMarlins Park, they were greeted by baseballthemed games along thewest side of the stadium and a makeshift memorabilia shop housed inside a large tent.
Recording artist Bebe Rexha sang the national anthem as an Americanflagwas unfurled across the outfield before the game. Soon after, MLBpaid tribute to the Latin-born members of the Baseball Hall of Fame — including former Marlins manager Tony Perez and catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who will be inducted in Cooperstown later this month— by introducing them and having them throw out ceremonial first pitches.
Earlier in the afternoon on Biscayne, fans crowded the fence to catch a glimpse of their favorite players drive down the red carpet. Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, wearing a white sports jacket, was the first player in the parade. He sat in the bed of a blue pickup truck.
“What happened last night?” a boy yelled at Stanton in reference to his first-round exit inMonday’s Home Run Derby. “I was depending on you!”
The end of the red carpet curved alongside AmericanAirlines Arena, where players were pulled aside for interviews on a stage as they hopped off their trucks.
New York Yankees outfielder and Home Run Derby champion Aaron Judge received the loudest cheers as he walked to the stage, stopping for a few minutes at the fence to sign baseballs for fans as they chanted his name.
A few minutes later, San Diego Padres pitcher Brad Hand rolled down the street. He juggled a baseball for a few seconds and tossed it into the crowd standing in front of Bayfront Park.
Rob Moots caught it and quickly placed it in his pocket.
“Now I can bring something home to my kid,” Moots said, patting his pocket.