For those who know me and have read this blog before, you understand that I love the MLB All-Star Game. I have attended two, once sitting high up in the left field grandstands of Yankee Stadium in 1977 and then in 2009, hobnobbing with Al Roker and Debra Roberts while sitting in the second row behind the American League dugout. I felt I was up close and personal with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
My history and love affair with the ASG goes back to the 1960’s, when baseball became an obsession for this boy. The announcing of the roster, with the extra loud cheering of the home fans for their representatives, has aways been a big thrill. I try not to miss it every year.
I learned how great Willie Mays was with his dominance in the Mid-Summers Classic. I remember Johnny Callison’s walk off home run at Shea Stadium; I was in Las Vegas at the time with my family. I recall rain impacting a game in Washington. My list of memories goes on, seemingly forever.
As a preamble to this year’s edition, baseball conducuted the Home Run Derby. To me, it is baseball’s equivalent of the NBA’s Three-Point Contest. Except it is much harder for the participants to do.
I don’t think I want to go see the Derby live. The majesty of a long blast is captured beautifully on screen.
I watched this year’s Derby and rooted for Cal Raleigh. The Seattle slugger leads MLB in home runs, so it wasn’t a stretch, in my mind, that he would win the contest. Even if he proceeded to the semi-finals by way of a measurement of how far his longest shot went, barely outdistancing another contestant.
What made his performance compelling was the duo who worked with him. His father, who coached college baseball, had always thrown to Cal as the young man progressed from a youth, to Florida State, and then as a professional. And his 15 year old brother, already a sizable kid, was the catcher, encouraging his older brother along the way.
Raleigh, who batted from both sides of the plate during the contest, is likely to break records for home runs by a catcher and for the Mariners’ franchise. He even has a shot at Aaron Judge’s American League record of 62 (Judge recorded 350 regular season home runs earlier than anyone in history with his blast last week). And he can top Mickey Mantle’s 56, the record for a switch hitter.
The fact that he is a catcher doing this is almost unthinkable. It is clearly the most demanding position on the field, with the greatest amount of wear and tear. If he keeps up this torrid homer pace, Raleigh is going to give the Yankees’ Aaron Judge a run for who is the AL M.V.P.
I found the pre-game festivities to be directed at a younger audience. It just failed to resonate with me. I found it warming how the Atlanta fans enthusiastically greeted two of their former players—Max Fried of the Yankees and Freddie Freeman now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They deserved the cheers.
Atlanta fans also don’t have it in their hearts to root supportively for players from the National League East, the division the Braves resides in. Francisco Lindor, the New York Mets shortstop, expected a loud chorus of boos. NYM first baseman Pete Alonso saluted the fans for their welcome; he would later receive cheers for his home run in the game. Philadelphia players also received the heartfelt expression of dislike from the ATL faithful, as did the remaining Yankees; they obviously still are angry how the Yanks won the 1996 World Series over their Braves.
Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes opened the game as the NL pitcher. He handled the AL players and handed the inning over to his hitters.
Skenes is the real deal. He has a losing record playing for a very underperforming Pirates team, but this season still has been everything else expected from his in terms of E.R.A. and strikeouts. Plus the velocity on his fastball almost makes Skenes unhittable at times. He was the logical choice to start for the NL, his second time after his explosion on the scene last season created a fervor leading to his being placed on the mound for the NL with only 11 games under his belt.
Tarik Skrubal, the Detroit lefty who won the AL Cy Young Award and is among the leaders for this season, started for the Americans. He wasn’t so lucky, as the NL plated two runs in the first inning.
Before long, the NL had built a 6-0 lead. The game’s outcome had seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
That’s when I made my mistake. I stopped watching. I wanted to get up early to walk before the overwhelming temperatures and humidity of the morning’s Heat Advisory wilted me. So I began my evening protocol.
When I returned to the TV, it was the eighth inning. In that short time, the American League had come back to be within reach of the home team, down only by a 6-4 score.
I continued to watch the inning. It was uneventful. I figured that the stable of closers on the NL pitching staff would end the game easily. So I grabbed the remote and said good night to the game just around 11:00.
Bad decision. The American League mounted a two run rally in the ninth inning, then shut the NL down in the bottom half of the frame. Tie score after nine innings.
That’s when the gimmick installed for only this game came into play. There would be a home run hitting contest to determine which team would be the winner, rather than play it out with ghost runners on second base like in the regular season. A swing off, it was called.
Remember that this is an exhibition game. So doing things differently was acceptable. For instance, players could challenge ball/strike calls by an umpire by tapping their caps. I loved it when the review system corrected the call. You know that a system like this is only a year away from being a welcome part of the games going forward.
The rules in place required the managers to designate a day before in advance of the game which hitters would participate. Sounds good. Except that the big stars like Judge and Shohei Ohtani from the Dodgers were long showered and unavailable. Raleigh remained in the dugout, but he hadn’t played in a very long times and the risk of injury would have been great if he tried to warm up and hit.
Thus, fans were left with reserves from each team facing coaches from each squad throwing to them. Each batter would receive three swings, then go onto the next hitter, alternating between the leagues.
That’s when Philadelphia DH Kyle Schwarber won the game. His three shots propelled the National League to victory at nearly midnight on the East Coast, while I was fast asleep.
Schwarber was named the game’s M.V.P. for his heroics—the first Phillies player to win it since Callison in 1964. And it started a debate whether this format should end regular season extra inning games rather than the present one. To which I say the shootout works much better in hockey—and that comes only after a four on four, five minute overtime session when both teams failed to score. A note to the NBA, college basketball and the NFL: keep your tie game endings. Even if I do like the alternating possessions for overtime in college football.
The FOX coverage of the game was a snooze fest. The fact that LAD manager Dave Roberts removed Freeman and certain Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw to standing ovations was wonderful. Miking up players was interesting, even if some of the players should not have been interacting with the broadcast crew—like Raleigh when he was catching Skrubal in the first inning. Moreover, I thought the Henry Aaron tribute using AI was too sci fi-like for me.
Yeah, I blew it this year. I will try to make amends next year when the leagues face off again. I hope the heat cooperates—when the World Series is played in October and early November, I don’t have that concern and can go to bed later.
For the record, I had a great walk. Even if I was covered with sweat after three miles. I still feel like I am hydrating to replenish the liquids I lost.
This was my 2025 MLB All-Star Game experience.
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