​PHILADELPHIA — Beneath an exploding sky, illuminated by a bombardment of fireworks, the National League’s most unlikely All-Star jogged in from the bullpen.Foster Griffin, a 30-year-old pitcher for the Washington Nationals who spent the past three years playing in Japan, gave himself a moment to pause, look up and soak it in. He’d been the final player added to the roster, albeit a thoroughly deserving last-minute replacement for this staggeringly patriotic Midsummer Classic coinciding with America’s 250th birthday. Griffin has gone from first-round pick to cast-off to afterthought and back again, restarting his career in improbable fashion this season with an upstart Nats team.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Crazy, right? It’s crazy to see where we’re at. I’m looking back, just a year ago, super grateful,” Griffin said postgame before admitting that stopping to appreciate the fireworks helped him calm his nerves before he took the ball in the top of the fifth inning.The pyrotechnic spectacle was actually the dramatic finale of a five-minute midgame ceremony intended to echo the famous Fourth of July set piece from the 1993 movie “The Sandlot.” In that scene, a group of ball-playing youngsters take advantage of the holiday fireworks to hold their only night game of the year. Eventually, overawed by the technicolor bursts of light, the tweens redirect their focus skyward, mouths agape, childlike wonder pasted on their faces. Ray Charles’ legendary, moving version of “America the Beautiful” plays soothingly in the background.It’s a killer scene, one that deftly weaves together the relationship between baseball, Americana and youthful innocence. It’s an eternal summer. For a night, the kids on that sandlot dream their way into feeling like big leaguers, not middle schoolers playing make believe. There’s a saccharine, almost naive sense of limitlessness, of possibility, something that feels quintessentially America at its most optimistic.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn that way, Griffin was the perfect character to then take the stage. For the past three seasons, the Nationals’ southpaw, born and raised in Florida, spent his July Fourths an ocean away. Because of the time difference in Japan, he slept through any televised firework displays happening back home. Across the world, his Independence Days held no special meaning. And so, it was touching to watch a guy who never stopped dreaming, like those kids in “The Sandlot,” see his own dreams fulfilled beneath a firework’ed sky.The extended interlude — it was fabulous and also two minutes too long — was just one of many ornate, America-drenched moments in what was otherwise a massively disappointing All-Star Game. The American League scored three runs in the first off Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez, to the disappointment of the home crowd. Then the game went into cruise control for a few hours. White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas