During the week leading up to the first MLB All-Star Game played in Flushing since 1964, when Shea Stadium was new, the boardwalk taking pedestrians over the Corona Yards and into Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was festooned with banners representing all thirty major league teams, for the first and possibly final time. Flag bunting was also placed on the railings. Possibly the most crowd-pleasing promotions were the 30 “Apples on Parade” again depicting all major league teams that were scattered around Manhattan.
Batting practice and warmup uniforms worn by MLB personnel were quite Mets-centric, in blue and orange, with lettering resembling that of the “NEW YORK” worn on Mets road uniforms. The Mets playing in the game did well, with Matt Harvey tossing two scoreless innings (though he hit Robbie Cano with a pitch) and David Wright picked up a hit. The night belonged to retiring Yankee great Mariano Rivera, who pitched a scoreless inning in the AL’s 3-0 win . He arrived alone on the field while his Yankee Stadium theme song, “Enter Sandman” played. He was named the game’s MVP.
7/17/13