Tag: All-Star Game

Three Gators named to Cape Code League All-Star Team

With summer ball winding down, three Florida Gators have been named to the Cape Cod League All-Star Team.

A trio of Florida Gators are tearing it up across the nation’s most prestigious wood-bat summer league.

Infielder [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag], catcher/designated hitter and right-handed pitcher [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] were named to the 2024 Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star East Division team over the weekend. The game will take place at Guv Fuller Field, home of the Falmouth Commodores, on July 27.’

Donay and Kurland are starters at first and second base, respectively.

Both Clemente and Donay are coming off Player of the Week performances. Clemente threw seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit as he improved his earned run average to 1.93. Donay homered twice last week and slashed .467/.529/.933 to earn the award.

Kurland has held a steady .264/.346/.347 slash line in the wood-bat league. He’s gone deep once and doubled three times while driving in eight runs. Kurland has also flashed some speed, stealing successfully in four of five attempts.

In related news, [autotag]Colby Shelton[/autotag] has made it to the Cape. He’s taken over starting shortstop duties for the Brewster Whitecaps, joining teammates Donay and Clemente.

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LOOK: Patrick Mahomes reacts to Bobby Witt Jr.’s spectacular Home Run Derby performance

Check out #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ reaction to #Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.’s outstanding Home Run Derby performance.

Patrick Mahomes is an avid baseball fan, and when Bobby Witt Jr. took the field for the MLB’s annual Home Run Derby on Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was glued to his television.

Witt fought hard against more experienced competition to finish as the event’s runner-up, falling just behind Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández in the derby’s final round.

Though Mahomes didn’t attend the spectacular showing of slugging prowess in Texas, he and his wife Brittany documented his experience of watching Witt from his living room on social media during each round of the event.

Check out their top posts below:

When Witt was eliminated, Mahomes took to his official account to post a final show of support for Kansas City’s budding star.

Though Witt didn’t leave with a trophy on Monday night, he will join fellow Royals Salvador Pérez, Cole Ragans, and Seth Lugo at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game on June 16.

Pete Alonso an All-Star for 3rd straight season, will compete in Home Run Derby

Pete Alonso is headed back to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, which take place in Arlington, Texas this year.

Former Florida first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] is once again a major league All-Star

On Sunday, the New York Mets slugger was named a 2024 National League roster reserve. It’s Alonso’s fourth time being selected and the third year in a row he’s headed to the midsummer classic.

“I thought (Alonso) got hot and then he got cold, but this is a guy who can carry us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said to The Athletic. “I like the at-bats as of late. I think he is making progress as far as the chases go, but the impact there, he’s a game changer.”

Alonso got off to a fairly normal start, belting eight homers through the first full month of the season, but he didn’t see the ball as well in May. His walk rate dipped, his strikeout rate up and the homers were cut in half. Alonso’s bat is too good to fall below the league average (108 wRC + in May), but he wasn’t the same kind of threat in the batter’s box.

Struggling to hit for average in May isn’t something new for Alonso, but he usually comes close to double-digit homers when healthy. He spent most of June refining his approach and raised his batting average considerably.

Alonso is the lone representative from the Mets this year. He moves ahead of Keith Hernandez for most by a first baseman in franchise history. David Wright holds the franchise record regardless of position with seven, and Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver and Darryl Strawberry are tied in second with six apiece.

The All-Star Game will be played on July 16 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Home Run Derby

Alonso also announced that he would be participating in the Home Run Derby for a fifth straight time. He’ll compete with Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Philadelphia’s Alex Bohm. The rest of the field has not been announced.

The Polar Bear is chasing history as he looks to join Ken Griffey Jr. as the only three-time winner of the derby. Alonso won in 2019 as a rookie and again in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 event.

Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez has eliminated Alonso in the back-to-back years.

The Home Run Derby is scheduled for July 15 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

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The best of Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird at the All-Star Game

Imagine All-Star games with defense as well as scoring — we swear they happened.

The NBA’s 2024 All-Star Week may now be behind us, but our memories of it — both good and bad — will stay with us forever. And when it comes to Hall of Fame Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, there are some seriously impressive memories to look back on.

With all the talk about the NBA All Star Game being another bust this season, plus Larry Bird resurfacing to meet Jayson Tatum, we thought it only logical that young fans would be curious about just how good Bird was. CLNS Media’s Nick Gelso also spends some time talking with CLNS reporter Bobby Manning on how the All-Star game has really fallen apart.

To see some of the best of the Hick From French Lick playing in All-Star Games from his era, check out the clip embedded below.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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LOOK: NBA All-Star uniforms through the years

One of the most exciting parts of every All-Star Game is finding out what the uniforms will be. Every year, the NBA styles the players in the best possible fits that flash on-screen. Below, you can check out every NBA All-Stara uniform since 1990.

One of the most exciting parts of every All-Star Game is finding out what the uniforms will be.

Every year, the NBA styles the players in the best possible fits that flash on-screen.

Below, you can check out every NBA All-Stara uniform since 1990.

Why the NBA’s All-Star Game was unwatchable, and how to fix All-Star Week

The All-Star Game itself bombed after reverting from the playground-style team picking and target score endings, and the Dunk contest was somehow both better AND worse.

Even days after the conclusion of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game and All-Star Week festivities, people are still reflecting on the many flops involved. But they are also still talking about a few of the high points, so maybe this event can be saved — or at least improved.

The All-Star Game itself bombed after reverting from the playground-style team picking and target score endings, and the Dunk contest was somehow both better AND worse in that the dunks were largely repeats. But there was a Boston Celtics star making some of the flushes, which was cool. Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu was a seminal moment — that the broadcasters managed to sully.

And there are plenty of ideas out there in the ether of how to make things better, too. The hosts of the CLNS Media “The Big 3 NBA” podcast weighed in on a recent episode.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Can the NBA’s All-Star Week be fixed?

Could there be new wrinkles added to boost engagement? Or is it all pointless anyway, given the game is an exhibition tilt?

By now, we all have heard the many complaints about various aspects of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Week festivities. From the overall lack of effort in the All-Star Game itself, and inconsistencies in the judging of star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown in the Slam Dunk Contest to the sexism heard during Steph vs. Sabrina and the utter confusion that is the Skills Challenge, there’s plenty that irked fans to point to.

That it ended up happening despite the league’s best efforts to ensure a return to the sport itself over spectacle alone to bring forth a greater level of effort and fan engagement makes it worse.

Can anything be done to fix All-Star Week? Are there events that can be changed to make it better? Could there be new wrinkles added to boost engagement? Or is it all pointless anyway given the game is an exhibition tilt?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza to talk it over on a recent episode.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay have feelings about this year’s All-Star Game

Ryan and Tanguay analyzed the NBA’s All Star Game and the lack of competition in the tilt.

The esteemed hosts of the CLNS Media “Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodman, and Gary Tanguay” podcast were about as happy as the rest of us were with the level of effort put forth in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game. Whatever was in the water in Indianapolis did not exactly produce any better results than the changes NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Co. made to the All-Star Week‘s proceedings to boost player effort.

The eponymous hosts took note, and Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay analyzed the NBA’s All Star Game and the lack of competition in the tilt, despite the league’s hopes on their most recent episode. Ryan also looked back on the All-Star Games of old and the players who would have made it more competitive.

Plus, Gary and Bob talk about Jayson Tatum meeting Larry Bird for the first time and address Bird’s distance from the Celtics organization.

Check it out in the clip embedded above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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A three-point plan to save the NBA’s All-Star Week

It’s not like it could get that much worse…right?

There may be no way to fully salvage the NBA’s annual All-Star Game. The league elected to get rid of several tweaks created to make the annual exhibition game more competitive by making it like a regular NBA game, only to see the tilt become almost unwatchable.

The same can be said for the events leading up to it. But we decided to throw out a few of our own half-baked ideas that could spice up the event we all love to complain about around the season’s two-thirds mark. They could also play the same way the NBA’s changes for this All-Star Game went (read: bad), but we figured we’d put them out into the ether just the same.

It’s not like it could get that much worse…right? So let’s take a look at each of our three ideas, then.

Looking back on the Boston Celtics in the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game

What needs to happen for us to keep tuning in?

What do we think of the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game, the All-Star Week of events before it, and how the Boston Celtics participating in both did? On one hand, there were new wrinkles that were very clearly a hit, like the additional 3-point shootout between Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and New York Liberty legend Sabrina Ionescu.

On the other hand, the decision to go back to old-style formats that eschewed the target score ending, charitable donations per quarter, and playground-style team picking did not have the desired effect of bringing back some competitive fire to the big game. Is the NBA’s All-Star Game irretrievably broken? Are there still things that could save it?

Most of all, what needs to happen for us to keep tuning in?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast linked up with Cameron Tabatabaie of Celtics Wire and the “Celtics Lab” podcast to talk us through the 2024 All-Star Game and how Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did in it.

Check it out above!

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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