ATLANTA — Take a bow, commissioner Rob Manfred. Your league simply pulled off one of the thrilling All-Star Video games ever and the cherry on prime was the conclusion. That’s, a home run swing-off between three players from each league took the place of additional innings. It was wonderful.
Certain, this is not how regular baseball video games are supposed to finish, however the All-Star Sport is not a standard baseball recreation. It is a showcase meant to be enjoyable for the followers. Fast, what’s extra enjoyable: Watching groups desperately attempt to scrape collectively pitching in additional innings in a meaningless recreation or seeing three sluggers taking three swings apiece in hopes of hitting probably the most homers?
That is a straightforward reply, so long as you take pleasure in enjoyable and do not take this recreation too critically. And also you should not. The All-Star Sport is an occasion that showcases the very best gamers in baseball and is supposed to be nothing greater than senseless enjoyable.
The sport itself earlier than the swing-off was wonderful, too.
Kyle Schwarber named MLB All-Star Game MVP: Phillies slugger leads National League to thrilling swing-off win
Mike Axisa
The Nationwide League jumped on the very best pitcher on the earth in Tarik Skubal, scoring two runs within the first inning, although two of the hits have been frivolously struck and nicely positioned. Then we noticed a bunch of nice pitching and protection for just a few innings. Pete Alonso hit a house run and Corbin Carroll adopted to make it back-to-back jacks for the Nationwide League. Bear in mind, the Alonso shot was solely the third Mets All-Star Sport residence run ever.
Keep in mind how Brent Rooker was eradicated from the Residence Run Derby through a distance tiebreaker that he misplaced by lower than an inch? He slugged a three-run homer on this one. It began an AL comeback that noticed the junior circuit come from a 6-0 deficit to tie the sport within the ninth.
That ninth inning, too, was superior. Byron Buxton began issues off for the AL with a hustle double with one out and the American League trailing by two. Bobby Witt Jr. adopted with a double. Witt moved to 3rd on an distinctive play by Matt Olson at first base for the second out after which Steven Kwan battled with two strikes to hit a dribbler to 3rd base that was simply gradual sufficient to get him via the bag to beat Eugenio Suárez’s throw on in spectacular effort.
The AL tied the sport. It was superior.
However we have been solely getting began. Then got here the first-ever Residence Run Derby swing-off tiebreaker.
Rooker, persevering with his shot at redemption in a storyline gifted by the baseball gods, clubbed two homers in three swings. The AL had a 3-1 lead when the second hitter for the NL, the hulking Kyle Schwarber, stepped into the field.
All three of his swings resulted in residence runs. A day earlier, Schwarber advised me he does not wish to be referred to as a hitter who solely hits residence runs, at the same time as he embraces the truth that hitting residence runs is the very best factor he does on the sector. He got here via right here and was named the MVP of the All-Star Game.
The one factor that wasn’t wonderful right here was that Jonathan Aranda did not hit a house run to tie issues up for the AL, as a result of that may’ve introduced Alonso to the plate in an try and stroll off the Derby tiebreaker.
Nonetheless, that is simply nitpicking.
To get to see this unfold in particular person was a lot enjoyable. The hundreds of followers who remained within the ballpark had an unbelievable deal with. This was the primary time one thing like this had ever occurred, to start with. Secondly, it actually may have been a dud. We may have seen just a few drained gamers stand up there and lay eggs within the field, struggling to a 0-0 tiebreaker which might’ve drawn nationwide mockery. As an alternative, the gamers stepped up, particularly Schwarber.
And, once more, the entire recreation was nice.
Kudos to Main League Baseball. That was one hell of an All-Star Sport.