If you ask many casual fans where “Baseballtown” is they may say St. Louis, Cooperstown, Williamsport, Chicago…but Reading, Pa? Correct. Reading, the home of the AA Reading Phillies, smartly grabbed the title in 2002, when a local boys and Girls Club presented the plan and the history of Reading in baseball lore to the late 1800’s. The Chamber of Commerce bought in, and Reading is officially Baseballtown.
Next week, Baseballtown gets a special visit as the AA Eastern league brings its All-Star Game to Reading, and with it a three day extravaganza replete with special events, unique experiences and a huge charity component which will one-up the South Atlantic League’s HR Derby on the USS Yorktown, at least in overall creativity if not in just a one-off event. Why?
Now the whole experience is a little pricey by AA standards, but the creativity for all the goings-on, and the charity benefit for the United Way, could make the event into one which the highest levels of sport may want to look at in spicing up all-star festivities going forward. Ironically, this game, of any minor league all-star competition, may feature the highest level of talent, as many teams have their best prospects in AA. So quality, along with the quantity of events, could make the Baseballtown hitting contest one for the ages, if not in numbers than in creativity, engagement and experience.
