Tag: MLB All-Star Game

There’s 1 obvious, easy solution to those hideous MLB All-Star uniforms

Let’s go back to the way things were!

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The MLB All-Star Game was fun, but all anyone could talk about were … the uniforms.

Fans were meh on them before the contest at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, and then the combo of the National League’s navy jerseys and black pants got slammed. I saw a ton of tweets about the batting helmets that people didn’t like.

But I also saw the solution that a lot of folks came up with: Can we just go back to the players wearing their own uniforms?

That’s it! So simple. And it’s fun to see the mix of uniforms on the field. We’re not under the illusion that the group of the game’s best players is suddenly a team. And I know the uniforms mean the league will sell more merch, but if you look at Twitter, you know fans will be happier.

This is easy, MLB.

Quick Hits: Dan Snyder’s “Blackmail PowerPoint” … Summer League second-round steals … and more.

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

— An ESPN story detailed how Jon Gruden’s emails took down Commanders owner Dan Snyder, which included Snyder’s team presenting league execs with a “Blackmail PowerPoint.”

— Bryan Kalbrosky has five second-round picks in 2023 who already look like draft steals in Summer League.

— Amon-Ra St. Brown trolled the Pakers by choosing to replay their 2014 NFC title game collapse on NFL Network.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. adorably played rock paper scissors across dugouts at the All-Star Game

There’s never a bad time to play rock paper scissors!

There’s never a bad time to play rock paper scissors. In fact, mid-inning at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game might be the best time to engage in some fun tomfoolery!

During Tuesday’s MLB All-Star festivities, former teammates Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. played rock paper scissors across dugouts in the early innings of the contest. Guerrero Jr. and Gurriel Jr. were previously teammates with the Toronto Blue Jays. While Guerrero Jr. is still playing for the Blue Jays — and just won the Home Run Derby! — Gurriel Jr. now plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks after a trade in late 2022.

MORE ALL-STAR GAME: The NL All-Stars wore navy jerseys with black pants and MLB fans were appalled at the fashion choice.

Here’s the moment the cameras caught the pair adorably playing rock paper scissors.

MLB fans called out the All-Star Game for bizarrely skipping Rays’ Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan during intros

This was a weird omission by the All-Star Game.

The MLB All-Star Week is a time of celebration across the league. It’s a time when baseball’s best of the best all congregate in one place to show off their skills as representatives of their teams.

Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Rays, an announcing snafu skipped the introductions of two of its players during Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Shortstop Wander Franco and pitcher Shane McClanahan were both absent from the All-Star Game introduction announcements despite taking the field during that time.

While neither Franco nor McClanahan were among the American League starters — as Randy Arozarena and Yandy Díaz were both introduced — the pair were seemingly skipped over so the Seattle Mariners could get reception from their hometown crowd.

Talk about an extremely bizarre oversight for sure. The Rays on Twitter, meanwhile, took matters into their own hands about introducing Franco and McClanahan to the festivities.

MLB fans were not pleased about the All-Star Game missing Franco and McClanahan from the event’s introductions.

The NL All-Stars wore navy jerseys with black pants and MLB fans were appalled at the fashion choice

A navy jersey with black pants is certainly a choice, NL All-Stars!

Fashion disasters happen to us all, but the National League All-Stars owe baseball fans an apology after this one.

On Tuesday, the 2023 MLB All-Star Game got underway in Seattle after a riveting — and heartwarming — Home Run Derby the day before. After last year’s All-Star jerseys knocked it out of the park with a crisp all-white and all-gray look for the two teams, the 2023 editions were a major step back.

Why? Because the National League committed the cardinal fashion sin of wearing navy jerseys with black pants. Yes, not gray pants as the “away” team, but a pure black. Here’s how they looked on the field.

Yeah, that’s just not good at all. Compared to the clean AL All-Star look — a dark seafoam green jersey with white pants — the NL All-Stars are so out of place. Had the NL All-Stars worn pants that were the same gray as their hats, that’d be a much more fashion-forward choice.

As expected, MLB fans had notes on the NL All-Stars’ navy shirt and black pants look.

MLB All-Star Game rosters: Here’s the full AL and NL list for the 2023 game

Here are the full rosters for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.

The 2023 MLB All-Star game and other events are slowly coming together.

We know the starters for the American League and National League — they’ll be listed below, more on that in a sec — and we’ve seen the uniforms along with the hats both sides will wear for the Midsummer Classic.

Now? We’ve got the full rosters for the AL and NL, which were announced on Sunday, with just over a week to go before the game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on July 11. We’re sure there are some snubs you’re already fuming about.

In the meantime, here are the full rosters:

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Astros mascot Orbit came prepared to mock the kids who booed him at the All-Star Game pink carpet

Orbit is embracing the villain role.

The Houston Astros are no strangers to heckling from other MLB fanbases amid the cheating scandal surrounding their 2017 World Series title. But even the Astros must be a bit surprised about the harsh reception from Seattle fans at MLB All-Star week.

Even children are booing Astros mascot Orbit.

It started with Seattle fans booing the Astros so loudly during the MLB Draft that commissioner Rob Manfred could hardly speak, and it has carried over into a kid friendly pink carpet show ahead of Tuesday’s game. But at least this time, Orbit came prepared to answer the loud chorus of boos.

As Orbit walked the pink carpet to boos from the youth baseball players, he displayed a box of tissues as a way to mock the booing children. He wanted them to wipe away their tears.

After all, the Astros emerged from the cheating scandal relatively unscathed and went on to win the 2022 World Series. You can’t blame fans for being salty about it, but the Mariners didn’t exactly put up a competitive effort against the Astros in the ALDS. Those AL West rivalries must run deep.

Still, fans loved how Orbit played into the heckling. The mascot might as well embrace the villain role.

ESPN somehow mistakenly said Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is from Cuba after Home Run Derby win

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a Canadian-Dominican slugger.

Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby but it didn’t come without an awkward hiccup.

After the victory, ESPN’s broadcast produced a lower-third graphic that indicated Guerrero Jr. joined Yoenis Cespedes as the second Cuban-born player to ever win the MLB All-Star Weekend Contest.

The problem, however, is that Guerrero Jr. is not actually from Cuba. Guerrero Jr. was born in Montréal, Quebec in Canada when his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., played for the Expos. His father is also not from Cuba but from the Dominican Republic.

Guerrero Jr. has a Canadian passport and birth certificate. Growing up, meanwhile, he split his time between Santiago and Don Gregorio in the Dominican Republic and in the United States with his father.

Guerrero Jr. joins his father as well as Sammy Sosa, Miguel Tejada, David Ortiz and Juan Soto as Home Run Derby Champions from the Dominican Republic.

Perhaps what happened is that ESPN loaded up the wrong graphic and was instead prepared for a Randy Arozarena victory. Arozarena, unlike Guerrero Jr., is actually from Cuba.

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Is Shohei Ohtani hitting in the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby?

Will Major League Baseball’s home-run leader participate in the 2023 Home Run Derby?

When you look at the lineup for Monday night’s 2023 MLB Home Run Derby, there are some big-time sluggers in the mix, like the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and the Mets’ Pete Alonso.

However, perhaps the biggest name missing from the 2023 Home Run Derby list is Major League Baseball’s current home-run leader, Shohei Ohtani.

For the second straight year, the Los Angeles Angels’ superstar is skipping the Home Run Derby.

The 29-year-old two-way player with 32 home runs this season was selected to start the All-Star Game as a pitcher and designated hitter. But thanks to a recently developed blister, he won’t be pitching in the game, as the Arizona Republic noted.

Although Ohtani is expected to be around for All-Star Week festivities and could still have an at-bat, he was unsure about his Home Run Derby participation at the end of June. But now, it’s clear from the derby bracket that he will not be hitting.

Here’s a look at the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby bracket:

1. Luis Robert Jr. vs. 8. Adley Rutschman
2. Pete Alonso vs. 7. Julio Rodríguez
3. Mookie Betts vs. 6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
4. Adolis García vs. 5. Randy Arozarena

MORE MLB ALL-STAR WEEK:

Does the MLB All-Star Game winner determine home-field advantage in the World Series?

Does the All-Star Game matter for World Series home-field advantage?

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Are you wondering if or what role the MLB All-Star Game plays in the World Series? We’re here to help.

Major League Baseball often experiments and switches up its rules to improve the game, increase its pace or enhance safety for players with some of the most signifiant changes yet implemented in the 2023 MLB season.

Something that isn’t new, however, is the All-Star Game and its impact on the World Series.

Since 2017, the league that wins the All-Star Game no longer gets home-field advantage in the World Series. Instead, that advantage is reserved for the pennant-winning team with the better regular-season record.

More via MLB.com:

From 2003-16, World Series home-field advantage was given to the team from the league that won that year’s All-Star Game, a rule that was installed after a 7-7 tie in the 2002 Midsummer Classic. And for the previous 98 editions of the World Series, home-field advantage simply alternated between the AL and NL depending on whether it was an odd or an even year.

As USA TODAY Sports noted when reporting on the 2017 rule changes, the All-Star winner receiving home-field advantage was initially a two-year experiment before being extended — though many baseball fans didn’t care for it. In that time frame, the American League won 11 of those 14 All-Star Games, and AL teams won eight World Series.

All 30 MLB stadiums, ranked: 2023 edition

MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game: 2023 participants, including Chloe Kim and Adam Devine

See which celebrities and athletes are set to play in the 2023 MLB Celebrity Softball Game.

The 2023 MLB All-Star Week is nearly here with the Seattle Mariners’ T-Mobile Park hosting Monday’s Home Run Derby and Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

But before the main events next week, there’s plenty going on during the weekend. In addition to the MLB Draft on Sunday, the lineup for Saturday includes both the All-Star Futures Game and the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game.

The Celebrity Softball Game specifically is usually a pretty good time. Remember the 2022 edition when Bryan Cranston had the time of his life and became a meme?

So ahead of the 2023 Celebrity Softball Game, here’s a look at 21 celebrities set to participate, including several current and former athletes, according to Major League Baseball.