MLB, Yanks unveil ‘08 All-Star plans

Ballot boxes had already found homes throughout Yankee Stadium on Tuesday when team co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner walked into the luxurious Stadium Club along the third-base line. He knew that in just over two months, his father’s stadium would host some of the greatest players in the game today. And he was pleased.

“I’m a bit biased, without a doubt, but I just believe this is the most fitting site for this year’s game,” Steinbrenner said. “And I can assure you that everybody in the Yankees organization is going to work very hard to make this very memorable.”

Steinbrenner, along with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Major League Baseball COO Bob Dupay and several Yankees past and present, were on hand at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday to officially open the balloting for this July’s 79th All-Star Game, and to reveal the schedule of events for the entire All-Star Week in New York.

“Yankee Stadium has been a site of so many incredible moments,” Bloomberg said. “It’s clearly going to be very sad to say goodbye to this place come next October, especially after the Yankees will have just played in a World Series here. But I do think that the All-Star Game is going to be one of those great ways to celebrate all of these special memories, and also the perfect opportunity to start getting excited about the club’s new home.”

Counting your Fred Stanley’s before they catch, eh?