ST. LOUIS (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
Hundreds of baseball fans figured out a way to see the Home Run Derby, hear the crowd, and feel the excitement without spending a dime. They camped outside Busch Stadium, gloves in hand, on Clark Street hoping to catch a piece of baseball history. They are the "cheapest" of the cheap seats, but they aren't bad seats."I got my brother here I'm willing to trade him for a hot dog or a ticket!" said one Cardinals fan with a laugh. He was on the outside of the Busch Stadium fence looking in, joking about trading his flesh and blood. But when he got serious, he admitted it was the best seat out of the house. "We're a few feet away from people who paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket."
"No they're great seats! If a homerun is hit in left center, this is the spot to be," says Gary Heitz of St. Louis.
Hundreds of people crowded around, glove in hand, hoping someone would hit a ball outside the stadium.
"Basically we're waiting on Albert to hit a couple out of the park so we can catch one. We got here about 2:00 and been sitting here ever since just waiting on him," says Caleb Tiefenauer of Viburnum, Missouri.
He and some friends drove an hour and a half just to have fun outside Busch. And they hoped to catch a ball, but none ever left the park. Still though, from Tiefenauer's "free seats" on Clark, they could even saw the jumbo-tron, which meant seeing Albert.
"I think we're the winners. They paid all that money to sit in there, we're here for free," he says.
Everyone outside tried to pack a bit of luck with them, but perhaps no one had more than Scott Devita. The Hazelwood man entered a drawing in the Budweiser tent at the "FanZone" outside Busch Stadium for free. Hours later, they drew his name. He won two tickets to Tuesday night's All Star Game. "It'd be a week's worth of salary," he says, with a mile-wide smile.
He and his wife were planning to be among the masses outside Busch enjoying the Home Run Derby experience. But they decided to go home and watch it on TV, since they found a way to get inside.
"I feel like the luckiest man in the city," he admits.
There's all sorts of history and memorabilia at the All-Star Fan-Fest and one piece will one day be in a special display case. The company Wilson is making 24 special ball gloves for its players as mementos of the All-Star Game. But that's not all. The company is also making a special glove for President Barack Obama to use when he throws out the first pitch at tomorrow night's game.
"We've taken one we've especially made that's an embroidered version that says Obama and number 44 for the 44th president," Bryan Emrich said. "Along with the American flag and we've had it broken in for him so that when he throws out the first tomorrow it feels like a glove should feel on your hand absolutely perfect."
There are only three of the presidential gloves being made. The one the president will use will likely end up in the hall of fame. Also, two identical copies are being made to show people across the country.
The All-Star Fan-Fest is paying tribute to the Negro Leagues with a moving exhibit. It features some of the best players to ever play the game. Players like Jackie Robinson who was forced to play in a separate league because of the color of his skin. Robinson went on to break the color barrier becoming the first African-American to play in the major leagues.
All the players in this year's game will take part in a "red carpet" parade to the game Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. The parade will travel down Market Street from Fourth Street to Eighth Street. Then it will go south on Stan Musial Drive to "gate three" of Busch Stadium. "Stan the Man" and other Cardinals Hall-of-Famers will also take part in the parade.
Also Tuesday on game day, Fox 2 will have a local pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.
