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Tag: MLB All-Star Game

  • Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez wins Home Run Derby title

    Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez wins Home Run Derby title

    By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer

    ARLINGTON, Texas — Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez won the Home Run Derby when he edged local star Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, 14-13, in the final round on Monday night.

    The 31-year-old Hernández hit 49 homers over three rounds that totaled 3.98 miles and became the first Dodgers player to win the derby. Kansas City has never had a winner.

    Witt, needing one to tie with one out remaining, drove a ball to one of the deepest parts of the park in left-center, where it hit halfway up the wall.

    Both finished their two-minute final round with 11 homers, before bonus swings were added. Witt came up short of his first two bonus swings, then hit two homers in a row – one a 457-foot drive that got him one more swing.

    Witt was the No. 2 overall pick by the Royals in 2019 out of Colleyville Heritage High School, about 15 miles north of Globe Life Field. It was his first time in the derby, but he was the high school home run champion in Washington in 2018 – and is the only player to compete in both contests.

    Hernández beat Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm 16-15 after a tiebreaker when both got three swings – Hernández hit two out, and Bohm one. They were tied at 14 after the three-minute segment and their bonus rounds, and Bohm came close to avoiding that, but the last ball he hit then landed on the warning track in left-center field.

    Witt had knocked out Cleveland switch-hitter José Ramírez 17-12 in the semifinals.

    Ramírez and Bohm both hit 21 homers to pace the first round. Witt started with 20 homers and Hernández had 19.

    The New York Mets’ Pete Alonso fell short in his bid to join Ken Griffey Jr. as a three-time derby champion when he hit only 12 homers in the first round.

    Instead of a single-elimination bracket like last year, the four hitters with the most homers in the first round advanced to the semifinal round. It then became a bracket-style competition.

    Alonso hit a 428-foot homer to left-center field on his first swing, but couldn’t get into a rhythm. The others knocked out after the first round were hometown favorite Adolis García of Texas, Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson.

    “It’s disappointing, but for me, I think it’s really just a blessing and it’s just of fun being out there,” Alonso said. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t my day.”

    Ozuna did have the longest homer of the night at 473 feet. Angels star Mike Trout in 2022, and Oakland’s Seth Brown in 2021 have both hit 472 feet homers in games at the stadium that is now in its fifth season.

    Bohm, one of a franchise-record eight Phillies named All-Stars, has only 11 homers this season – the fewest among the eight derby competitors. He said he was going to try to hit as many balls as he could to left field and did – pulling all 21 of his homers that way in the first round.

    “Who would have thought?” Bohm said after the first round about advancing.

    The Associated Press

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  • Collier and Baldwin hit 400-foot homers in NL’s 6-1 Futures Game win over AL

    Collier and Baldwin hit 400-foot homers in NL’s 6-1 Futures Game win over AL

    ARLINGTON, Texas — Cincinnati’s Cam Collier and Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin hit 400-foot solo home runs as the National League beat the American 6-1 Saturday in the All-Star Futures Game featuring top prospects.

    Arizona’s Druw Jones, like Collier the son of a former major leaguer, drew a bases-loaded walk after the NL opened the fourth inning with three consecutive singles to load the bases against Chicago White Sox lefty Noah Schultz. Collier struck out and Aiden Miller was hit by a pitch, forcing in another run.

    Baldwin, a catcher serving as the designated hitter and batting ninth, made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly on the first pitch from Houston right-hander A.J. Blubaugh

    Collier, the game’s MVP, led off the third inning with a 409-foot homer into the bullpen in right-center field for the game’s first run. It came off loser Caden Dana, a Los Angeles Angels right-hander.

    “My mom, dad, two sisters are all here. It was definitely something cool to do in front of them and be able to look in the stands as I ran the bases. It was something I’ll never forget,” Collier said. “Saw them in the second deck. They were going crazy. It was cool.”

    The bat Collier used is going to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

    Baldwin’s sixth-inning drive went 411 feet into the left-center bullpen.

    Cleveland’s Jaison Chourio had an RBI single for the AL, which had five hits. Boston’s Kyle Teel, the 14th overall pick in last July’s draft, had a pair of doubles.

    Miami right-hander Noble Meyer struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning for the win.

    The 19-year-old Collier’s dad, Lou, played for five big league teams from 1997-2004 and was the U.S. first base coach in last year’s World Baseball Classic. The younger Collier was the 18th overall pick in the 2022 draft and is at High-A Dayton.

    “It’s definitely like a cheat code. He’s someone I can always ask about any scenario I’m going through professionally because he’s done it at the highest level,” Collier said. “Being able to have him in my corner and have the relationship … definitely something great to have in my back pocket.’”

    Philadelphia’s Justin Crawford and Jones, outfielders who were also first-round draft picks out of high school two years ago, are 20-year-old sons of All-Stars who won Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers.

    Crawford led off his second Futures Game and was 1 for 3 with a hard single to left that knocked the glove off the hand of leaping third baseman Colson Montgomery. Crawford also had a nice lunging catch of Spencer Jones’ sinking liner to left that ended the first inning.

    Crawford got promotion in the Philadelphia Phillies organization while he was in Texas as part of MLB’s All-Star weekend. After hitting .301 with six homers, 35 RBIs and 27 stolen bases in 70 games this season for Class A Jersey City, he is headed to Double-A Reading.

    “When I was younger, I definitely felt pressure like that. But then I kind of got older and decided to grow into myself,” said Crawford, a son of four-time All-Star Carl Crawford. “That’s something where it kind of just fades away. … It’s kind of just go out there and play my game and just keep my head down.”

    Jones was the second overall pick by Arizona and is hitting .275 with five homers and 41 RBIs in 70 games for Low A Visalia.

    The son of five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones was plagued by injuries after being drafted. Druw Jones tore the labrum in his shoulder in his first batting practice with Visalia, then was sidelined last season by a right quadriceps injury and hurt a hamstring during rehab.

    “You’ve got to be mentally strong and just be able to come to the field every day and just have the same mentality that you’re going to go out there and you’re going to do best,” Druw Jones said.

    Dylan Crews, a teammate of Paul Skenes on LSU’s NCAA champions last year, was 0 for 3 with three flyouts and was hit by a pitch.

    Crews was taken by Washington with the second pick in the amateur draft after Skenes went first to Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old outfielder, promoted to Triple-A in mid-June, hasn’t had much contact during the season with Skenes, who made his big league debut May 11 and will start Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Skenes is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA in 11 starts.

    “He’s tearing it up and I’m just really happy for him,” Crews said. “He’s a generational player.”

    While Montgomery played third base for the AL squad, he is a 6-foot-3 shortstop and top prospect for the White Sox. He is a right-handed fielder who bats left-hander, so people often draw comparisons to two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager.

    “It’s very good to kind of have like a baseline, a guideline of kind of what to look for and look forward to,” Montgomery said. “He’s doing it right. I mean, he’s proved a lot people wrong playing shortstop and things like that for being a bigger guy. So it’s really cool to be compared to him.”

    As the home team, the AL were in the Texas Rangers clubhouse, though Montgomery was in a different row from Seager’s locker.

    The announced attendance for the All-Star Saturday activities inside Globe Life Field was 17,704.

    After the Futures Game, eight prospects competed in a hitting skills contest before the celebrity softball game wrapped up the day.

    Adrián Beltré, managing the AL squad a week before being inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame, was tipping his cap to fans while being recognized at the start of the second inning when he got a tap on the head.

    It came from no other than Elvis Andrus.

    Beltré never liked his head being touched, and when the two played on the left side of the Texas Rangers infield together, Andrus was often like the annoying little brother who often did it because of that.

    Andrus, one of the AL coaches, scurried off the dugout steps after tapping the head of Beltré, who smiled and knew without even looking who did it.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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  • What To Know About Dallas’ 2024 All-Star Week Schedule

    What To Know About Dallas’ 2024 All-Star Week Schedule

    It’s been a good year for Dallas baseball fans. After winning the 2023 World Series, the Texas Rangers are set to host the 94th annual All-Star Game at Globe Life Field on Tuesday, July 16…

    Samantha Thornfelt

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  • MLB All-Star Game draws record-low viewership for 2nd year in row

    MLB All-Star Game draws record-low viewership for 2nd year in row

    Baseball’s All-Star Game drew a record low in viewers for the second straight year

    National League’s Elias Díaz, of the Colorado Rockies (35), celebrates his two run home run with Nick Castellanos (8), of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the eighth inning during the MLB All-Star baseball game in Seattle, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Baseball’s All-Star Game drew a record low in viewers for the second straight year.

    The National League’s 3-2 win over the American League in Seattle on Tuesday night was seen by 7,006,000 viewers on Fox, down from 7.51 million last year. The game drew a 3.9 rating, down from a 4.2 last year, and a 12 share, the same as for the American League’s 3-2 victory in Los Angeles in 2022.

    The Home Run Derby on Monday night, won by Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., drew 6.11 million viewers on ESPN, down 11% from 6.88 million last year in Los Angeles, where the network had the advantage of a larger local market. The derby was ESPN’s most-watched event of the summer.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Elias Díaz homers as the National League beats American League 3-2 to end a nine-game losing streak in MLB All-Star Game

    Elias Díaz homers as the National League beats American League 3-2 to end a nine-game losing streak in MLB All-Star Game

    Elias Díaz homers as the National League beats American League 3-2 to end a nine-game losing streak in MLB All-Star Game

    SEATTLE — Elias Díaz homers as the National League beats American League 3-2 to end a nine-game losing streak in MLB All-Star Game.

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  • With Griffey’s help, MLB hosts HBCU All-Star Game hoping to create opportunity for Black players

    With Griffey’s help, MLB hosts HBCU All-Star Game hoping to create opportunity for Black players

    SEATTLE — Ken Griffey Jr. holds a plethora of titles, especially in this part of the country. Hall of Famer. Cultural icon. The guy who made baseball in the Pacific Northwest relevant. Arguably, the greatest of his generation.

    He even holds a title in association with Major League Baseball as a special adviser to Commissioner Rob Manfred.

    But what’s most meaningful to Griffey currently is his association with Friday’s HBCU Swingman All-Star Classic that serves as the first major event of All-Star Game festivities, featuring players from 17 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

    The event was an idea generated by Griffey, fostered into reality with help from MLB and the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, and comes at a time when U.S.-born Black representation in the majors is at its lowest level since tracking began more than 30 years ago.

    “It’s all about trying to get seen. I mean, if I can give an opportunity for a kid, one kid, two kids, three kids to be seen, how many kids can that be over the next five, 10, 15 years?” Griffey said. “How many lives will that one person change? That’s all we’re trying to do.”

    Fifty players in total were selected to take part. For some, it may be the biggest stage they’ve ever played on and the best opportunity for scouts and executives to see that despite limited resources compared to others in Division I baseball, their talent deserves to be showcased.

    “It’s huge. I think a lot more people see his name and they get drawn to it just because he’s Ken Griffey Jr.,” said Trey Paige, who played this past season at Delaware State. “Having his name on it draws attention from people who would have had no idea about it.”

    That’s partly the goal, especially with how current numbers have tracked.

    A recent study from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida found Black U.S. players represented just 6.2% of players on MLB opening day rosters, down from last year’s previous record low of 7.2%. There wasn’t a single HBCU alum on a major league roster on opening day this season, either.

    That is why Griffey pushed for this event to be part of All-Star weekend rather than his original thought of having it take place during the Hank Aaron Invitational in Florida, an MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation sponsored event focused on youth players. It’s another title Griffey hopes can eventually be added to his career resume — someone who helped grow and create opportunities for under-recognized Black players.

    “I would love to see the numbers to my dad’s when he played, but that’s so far from now,” said Griffey, whose father played from 1973-91, overlapping with the careers of HBCU standouts like Lou Brock and Andre Dawson. “I just want for these kids to have an opportunity to believe in themselves and go out and play.”

    Griffey’s participation in the event is not passive. This isn’t simply his name and logo attached to the title for the sake of interest and attention. He’s seen firsthand some of the resource limitations facing HBCU schools, but from a slightly different perspective — his youngest son Tevin plays at Florida A&M.

    “I just threw out a very big idea … but it was one of those things that needed to be done,” Griffey said.

    Griffey isn’t alone in this mission, or the first game. Jerry Manuel and Bo Porter are managers for the game. Others helping include Dawson, Marquis Grissom, Harold Reynolds, Rickie Weeks Jr. and Griffey’s dad — known at this point as Senior.

    The elder Griffey, now 73, reminisced at a time during his playing career when demographic participation rates weren’t tracked, but anecdotally nearly 30% of the majors comprised of U.S.-born Black players.

    When Senior and Junior were teammates with the Mariners in 1991, it was the first year of the TIDES study. At that time, 18% of players in the majors were Black. It’s now to the point where last year’s World Series was the first since 1950 that didn’t have a U.S.-born Black player on either roster.

    “We’ve got to keep going and passing it down from generation to generation,” said Bethune-Cookman’s Hylan Hall. “When I go back home, I train younger guys. I’m around younger guys and show them that it’s fun. … The younger generation is looking at me and looking up to me and I know that’s a great responsibility.”

    MLB’s current lack of Black players is frequently attributed to the rising costs of elite-level youth baseball, among other factors. The league has sought to address that inequity, and there are signs those investments are beginning to pay off.

    Four of the first five picks in last year’s MLB amateur draft were Black. Those four were among the hundreds who had participated in diversity initiatives such as the MLB Youth Academy, DREAM Series and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. MLB has also pledged $150 million in a 10-year partnership with the Players Alliance. The nonprofit organization of current and former players works to increase Black involvement at all levels.

    “Running this organization from the beginning as the first executive director, I am confident that we’re already making an impact,” said Jean Lee Batrus, executive director of the joint MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. “The numbers are growing when you look at youth sport. There’s more kids playing youth baseball and softball and I can speak specifically to underrepresented in diverse communities that there’s a desire there.”

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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