Tag: MLB All-Star Game

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.

MLB All-Star Game starters: The 2023 NL and AL list, including Shohei Otani and Ronald Acuna

Here are the starters you’ll see in Seattle next month.

Of course the two runaway MVP candidates — for the moment — in the American and National Leagues will be starters in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game set for July 11 at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.

Los Angeles Angels slugger/pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna were already the first two to take spots as starters in the AL and NL, respectively, thanks to MLB’s voting process.

We found out the rest of the starters on Thursday night, as the clock ticks down to the Midsummer Classic. Here’s the full list after the announcements:

Seahawks fan Joel McHale to participate in MLB Celebrity All-Star game

Summer 2023 is the summer of baseball in Seattle.

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Summer 2023 is the summer of baseball in Seattle. For the first time since 2001, the MLB All-Star festivities are returning to the Emerald City. One event during this week will be the annual Celebrity Softball Game, and on the roster is Seattle’s own Joel McHale.

McHale was raised on Mercer Island and was even a member of the University of Washington’s 1992-93 Rose Bowl team. He is one of the more notable and popular celebrities from the Seattle area, and is a die hard Seahawks fan. He even raised the 12th Man Flag in a 2015 home game against the then-St. Louis Rams.

McHale joins former Mariners legends Felix Hernandez, Mike Cameron, and Bret Boone.

Curiously, these seem to be the only Seattle representation in the game. There are other notable Seattle “royalty” such as Sue Bird, Chris Pratt, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Rainn Wilson to name a few. Perhaps we’ll see more announced as we get closer to All-Star Week.

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Fans marveled at Giancarlo Stanton literally squishing the baseball with his All-Star Game HR swing

He actually CRUSHED the baseball.

When the MLB All-Star Game stopped being used to determine homefield advantage in the World Series and returned to its rightful role as an exhibition game, it allowed Fox Sports to really experiment with the broadcast.

And honestly, a lot of it has worked. The mic’d-up players with live conversations have been great. But the enhanced camera angles have really made the viewing experience more enjoyable. There’s no better example of that than what we saw from Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run home run in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.

With Tony Gonsolin on the mound, Stanton crushed a 457-foot home run to left field. And in the subsequent replays, we saw that Stanton literally squished the baseball with his bat. Take a look:

I mean, how?!

While reaction times would make it nearly impossible for anyone to look at the baseball at the point of contact, it’s impossible to overlook the compression of that ball in the photo. He crushed it. It was the hardest-hit All-Star Game home run in the Statcast era.

And, of course, fans could not get enough of that photo.

The New York Mets executed the perfect news dump of Jacob deGrom’s latest setback

Take notes, fellow PR departments.

Just as breaking news has become its own niche market in the sports world, dumping news teams would rather not talk about too much has really, truly evolved into an art form.

Anyone who has worked in a newsroom can tell you copious stories about the dread and horror of watching the clock strike 5 p.m. on a given Friday, not because it’s time to go sit in rush hour, but because more often than not you’re about to get hit with a press release on a relatively important story. A story that needs to get reported further despite the fact most sources have already left the office and the majority of readers are already enjoying their weekend, not scanning the latest headlines. Which is, of course, the whole point.

Some news dumps are less subtle than others. Tom Brady announcing his un-retirement on Selection Sunday last March comes to mind immediately. Some teams, like the New York Mets, however, understand the modern news dump requires an air of imagination. You’ve got to kick fans in the gut when they’re at their most susceptible, the most relaxed, preferably on a day when the team isn’t playing. But more than that, you’ve got to add a little misdirection. Make sure your entire fanbase is focused on the absolute best of the best before you sucker punch them.

You’ve got to wait until, say, the first pitch of the MLB All-Star Game between Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani at Dodger Stadium to really drop a bomb.

Kaboom.

Look at that time stamp. Two minutes before the first pitch was officially recorded on Tuesday night. Perfection. 10/10.

Nothing says “Our most valuable pitcher is fine” like burying news that his shoulder hurts and his rehab stint has been paused underneath an exhibition between the game’s biggest stars.

Here’s hoping Jacob deGrom returns soon, but you’ve really got to hand it to the Mets’ PR team, who understand the best way to present bad news is to make sure as few people notice it as possible.

Anyways, the American League defeated the National League, 3-2 on Tuesday. Giancarlo Stanton was named MVP after hitting a mammoth two-run homer in the third inning. No additional Mets were injured in the process.

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Fans couldn’t get enough of Toronto’s Alek Manoah mic’d up while pitching in the MLB All-Star Game

“Three punchies! Let’s go!!!”

Alek Manoah was without a doubt the most charming person at the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.

In the bottom of the second, Manoah of the Toronto Blue Jays took to the mound for the American League while mic’d up for Fox Sports. We’ve gotten some real good mic’d up moments in sports over the years, but Manoah absolutely takes the crown for the pure charisma on display while pitching.

During his one inning of work, Manoah was absolutely pumped on the mound, throwing out zingers like “by you!” and “don’t flinch!” as he struck out the side, leaving one man on base.

Not only that, Manoah even took a pitching request from John Smoltz in the booth while on the mound!

After his one inning, Manoah told reporters that his chatter on the mound usually doesn’t get a response from someone on the other end.

Baseball fans absolutely adored Manoah’s mic’d up session with Fox Sports.

The 2022 MLB All-Star Game had ump cams and fans loved it

Make the ump cam a permanent addition, MLB!

An All-Star Game is a perfect place to try out new gimmicks or silly shenanigans to bring some levity to an event that’s supposed to be all about the fun.

With the 2022 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, baseball fans were delighted to learn that the umpires were to wear cameras to provide an alternate and unique angle with which to see some of the plays made in the game! For a game like baseball that’s extremely set in its ways, getting a new camera angle to add some different looks to a broadcast is one way to breathe some fresh air into the sport.

Let’s take a look at the ump cams in action!

What a cool way to view the game! Not only that, Bill Miller — the umpire behind home plate — got dinged in the head with a foul ball while wearing the camera. Thankfully, Miller was uninjured, but it did make for a neat shot afterwards.

The fans have spoken, MLB, and it’s time to keep the ump cams around for good!

Shohei Ohtani called his shot by swinging on the first pitch at the MLB All-Star Game

Never let it be said that Shohei Ohtani isn’t a man of his word.

Shohei Ohtani called his shot on national TV and delivered.

On Tuesday, the 2022 MLB All-Star Game got underway from sunny Los Angeles after a rowdy and surprising Home Run Derby the day before. While Ohtani didn’t compete in the derby, the Los Angeles Angels star was set to be part of the All-Star festivities on the second day.

Ohtani was the lead off man for the American League and ahead of his first crack at the bat, the 28-year-old called his shot for the opening pitch he’d face. And what was his bet?

“First pitch, first swing. That’s it.”

And what do you know? Ohtani delivered with a bloop single into center field!

Clayton Kershaw did, however, get his revenge on Ohtani one batter later, as the pitcher was able to pick him off at first to wipe the bases clean.

Never let it be said that Ohtani is not a man of his word!

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MLB All-Star Game: Why Joe Buck isn’t calling tonight’s game for FOX Sports

Joe Buck has a new broadcasting home.

The 2022 MLB-All Star game airs tonight on FOX and after a few minutes of watching the game you might find yourself saying – wait, is that not Joe Buck calling the game?

Now, many of you might be happy to hear that because a lot of you don’t like Joe Buck. And a lot of people will still probably say mean things about Joe Buck on Twitter tonight because they will still think Joe Buck is actually calling the game.

He will not be calling the game, however, because the GOAT broadcaster has a new broadcasting home – he made the move to ESPN a few months ago and will be calling Monday Night Football games with Troy Aikman.

The new No. 1 MLB play-by-play guy for FOX Sports is now Joe Davis. Kevin Burkhardt will be the new No. 1 NFL guy in the fall.

Buck actually made his ESPN debut during the PGA Championship last month and kicked things off with an Eli Manning joke:

Joe Buck made his ESPN debut during the PGA Championship and made a great Eli Manning double birds joke

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A grown man was jockeying for All-Star Game autographs and MLB fans were not impressed

Don’t be this fan.

For young fans at a ballgame, there aren’t many cooler experiences than getting an autograph from a big-league player. There’s no intention to flip the autograph for a profit. It’s just a genuine moment where young fans get to connect with their favorite players and head home with a keepsake.

But once you hit the age where you’re actually older than some of the players, it’s a good time to stop chasing autographs. And it’s never a good look to compete with actual children for those autographs.

So, with all that in mind, you can understand why MLB fans were not happy to see pre-All-Star Game video of an older Padres fan — with two baseballs in hand — physically jockeying for position to get autographs from Justin Verlander. At one point, this guy elbowed a kid who took issue with how he was reaching over.

While big-league players try to avoid signing for the obvious profit-seeking adult, it’s never a good look to see an adult fan push away children all in the hopes of scoring an autograph. It looked like an Impractical Jokers bit because, well, Impractical Jokers did a similar prank five years ago with the Mets.

But it appeared to be real this time.

Don’t be that fan.