93rd All-Star Gamethread

This All-Star Game will feature as few White Sox as have ever played in the Midsummer Classic, as teams don’t get fewer than one player invited! But that said, let’s hope Luis Robert Jr. gets some burn in the game, perhaps grabbing a few innings in center field and a couple of plate appearances. Or, he might not play at all.

It’s somewhat amazing that among 39 players named to the AL roster, just one South Sider is in Seattle. What a season.

Starting Pitchers

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker named Gerrit Cole of the Yankess as the AL starting pitcher, while NL skipper Rob Thomson hands the ball to Zac Gallen.

Cole is 9-2 this season, with a 2.85 ERA and 148 ERA+. Somewhat surprisingly, this will be his first All-Star Game start. Diamondbacks ace Gallen is 11-3, with a 3.04 ERA and 140 ERA+.

Starting Lineup: American League

Marcus Semien 2B Texas Rangers
Shohei Ohtani DH Angels
Randy Arozarena LF Tampa Bay Rays
Corey Seager SS Texas Rangers
Yandy Díaz 1B Tampa Bay Rays
Adolis García RF Texas Rangers
Austin Hayes CF Baltimore Orioles
Josh Jung 3B Texas Rangers
Jonah Heim C Texas Rangers

Starting Lineup: National League

Ronald Acuña Jr. RF Atlanta
Freddie Freeman 1B Los Angeles Dodgers
Mookie Betts CF Los Angeles Dodgers
J.D. Martinez DH Los Angeles Dodgers
Nolan Arenado 3B St. Louis Cardinals
Luis Arráez 2B Miami Marlins
Sean Murphy C Atlanta
Corbin Carroll LF Arizona Diamondbacks
Orlando Arcia SS Atlanta

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Not that it will resonate with White Sox fans this year, but this marks the seventh season where the All-Star Game result does not determine the home team for the World Series. (People hated that. Why? Alternating league hosting duties makes more sense? At least best-record is a sensible and fair approach. It only took MLB 117 years to get there.)

On the other hand, the AL and NL squads are wearing All-Star specific uniforms for the third straight year. That’s lame. Have the players wear their own uniforms! This isn’t the Home Run Derby or Futures Game. This is the All-Star Game!

Seattle has hosted the All-Star Game twice before. The first game came in 1979, just the third Mariners’ season, and was a 7-6 NL win. It also featured one of the best throws — hell, the best throw — in All-Star history.

I mean, goddam, that’s a 280-, 290-foot throw from right, high on the fly to nail Brian Downing? No wonder Dave Parker was named game MVP.

Keeping the three theme, Safeco Field hosted Seattle’s second ASG in its third season of play, overseeing a 4-1 AL win that saw Cal Ripken Jr. take MVP honors in his final All-Star appearance.

After early AL dominance and a ridiculous run of NL wins through the 1960s-70s, the American League again maintains an overall edge in the series, 47-43-2. The AL has a nine-game winning streak and has won 22 of 26 since 1997.

Texas’ Globe Life Field is the site of the 2024 game. It is virtually assured that Sox Park will next host the All-Star Game in 2033, the 100th anniversary of the contest.

The FOX pregame begins at 6 p.m. Central, with the game broadcast beginning right around 7 p.m Central. ESPN radio has the call as well.

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