07:59 AM EDT on Thursday, July 15, 2004

PAWTUCKET -- Randy Mobley has seen a lot of Triple-A All-Star games, but he's never seen anything like the three-day extravaganza put on by the Pawtucket Red Sox.

"It's been spectacular," Mobley, the president of the International League, said last night at McCoy Stadium. "We've got to make sure now that other clubs know they don't have to do all this."

There doesn't seem to be any way they could.

Anyone who knows anything about the Pawtucket Red Sox knew that, given the opportunity to host the Triple-A All-Star game, they would put on not just a good show, but the best ever.

It's questionable whether any other minor-club could come close to doing what the PawSox have done over the past three days. Because they are, without question, the best organization in minor-league baseball.

"I have no reservations about saying this organization is as good as any in minor-league baseball," Mobley said.

And if he'd said all of baseball -- or all of professional sports, for that matter -- he'd get no argument here.

Ever since Ben Mondor took over a bankrupt franchise in 1977 and brought in Mike Tamburro to run it, everything the PawSox have done has been first-class.

So there never was any doubt they would pull out all the stops, spare no expense, work countless hours, do whatever needed to be done to make this very special event one that would be long remembered.

"We knew when they were awarded the game that it was going to be top-notch," said Mobley, "because that's the way Ben and Mike do everything."

The PawSox were determined to do everything possible to make this the best All-Star event ever.

And they succeeded, setting the standard by which all future Triple-A All-Star festivities will be measured.

The problem is that it will be all but impossible for other cities to measure up.

"They said from the start that one of their desires was to do things as well, if not better, in all areas," Mobley said.

One of the things the PawSox did was expand the length of the event.

"They took what traditionally had been a two-day event," said Mobley, "and added a day. They sold the park out twice, which never had been done before in the previous 16 All-Star games. That was unprecedented."

Tuesday night's WaterFire also was an unprecedented and unique All-Star event.

"It had to be special for the players," Mobley said. "I'm just dying to see the pictures of them standing by the river with their torches. We'll use those in years to come to talk about what the Triple-A All-Star game is, and what it can be."

Yesterday's luncheon, featuring Red Sox all-time greats Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Dominic DiMaggio, was another memorable occasion.

"We've had some neat All-Star luncheons in the past," said Mobley, who has been I.L. president since 1990. "But I think this one will go down as a tremendous success, not just from an attendance standpoint, but also because it was like having those guys at your kitchen table, chatting.

"It wasn't like one of those gatherings we've all been to where, after 20 minutes, you're looking at your watch, wondering how much longer the speaker is going to talk. They could have gone on all afternoon, it was so much fun."

When the luncheon was over, numerous players from the Pacific Coast League and International League teams approached Doerr, DiMaggio, and Pesky to ask for autographs.

The PawSox put their own signature on this All-Star game, displaying once again how they'd earned their reputation for excellence.

"More baseball executives travelled here than we've ever had in the past," Mobley said. "Some of it was the appeal of coming to New England. But they also knew what the Pawtucket Red Sox have done over the years, and the respect they have throughout the industry. People knew it was going to be a special event, and they weren't disappointed."

Late Tuesday night, Mobley was sitting with members of the PawSox's front office on the second floor of the State House, where a gala reception had been held earlier in the evening.

"People were coming up," said Mobley, "being very complimentary, and Mike Tamburro kept saying how it was a tribute to the fans, to the area, to the sponsors, to all the people who had done so much work to make the event a success.

"But the reason it was like that," Mobley continued, "is because of what Ben and Mike have built here since 1977. They have created the perfect case-study of how to build a franchise, how to run a ball club."

And, now, how to host an All-Star game.