Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Of selfies and strikeouts
More relaxed game dominated by pitchers draws higher ratings
MIAMI — The freeze-frame image occurred in the sixth inning Tuesday night when Nelson Cruz came up to bat, handed his cell phone to catcher Yadier Molina and asked to have his picture taken with veteran umpire Joe West.
It was the moment that verified the MLB All-Star Game had returned to being more about fun than a serious contest.
In the aftermath of the American League’s 2-1 win in 10 innings at Marlins Park, some critics are suggesting the game lacked oomph after 14 years of the outcome being tied to homefield advantage in the World Series.
A better indication of the success of South Florida’s first Midsummer Classic was the way social media blew up after the impromptu photo opp.
Cruz’s post of himself with the ump on his Instagram account (@ncboomstick23) had received more than 59,000 likes as of Wednesday afternoon and was continuing to climb. That’s more than 10 times as many games as West, of Weston, has worked in his 40-year career.
Twitter ate it up and so did the star players.
“That picture was funny. I really liked it,”
said Robinson Cano, whose homer in the top of the 10th off Wade Davis gave the ending a bang. “That’s why I said this game is fun. I know a lot of us liked that, including myself.”
Cruz’s picture will take its place in the pantheon of silly All-Star capers, along with the likes of Larry Walker turning his helmet backwards and taking refuge in the right-handed batter’s box to face intimidating lefty Randy Johnson in 1997.
The consensus of players was that they liked having the emphasis back on the fun and personality of the stars. That is not to say pride wasn’t driving them to compete at their best.
Granted, there were a lot of strikeouts (23), including two by the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton, whose only positive contact rolled a few feet in front of the plate. There were a lot of routine outs through the low-scoring affair.
National League manager Joe Maddon attributed that to a stellar array of pitchers throwing in the high 90s. That was indicative of the season, as was two of the three runs coming on homers (Molina hit the other).
“I just thought the overall intensity of the game was very good. Right down to the very last out, both sides wanted to win that game,” Maddon said. “Spectacular pitching on both sides. Not really challenged defensively. The pitchers were that good tonight, missing bats. Weaker contact. The pitching was outstanding.”
The other result worth noting was that television ratings were up over the previous All-Star Game for the first time in five years.
Fox’s coverage drew a 6.5 household overnight rating and 11 share, up 2 percent from last year at San Diego, with 8.63 million viewers tuned in. It was Fox’s best night in primetime since the Super Bowl in February, though NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” won the night.
There were 37,188 in the ballpark, short of the record crowd of 37,446 for the U.S.-Dominican Republic game in the first round of the World Baseball Classic in March.
Tuesday’s game may have gotten a boost nationally from the drama of Aaron Judge’s win in the Home Run Derby the previous night, the mostwatched derby since 2009.
Overall, the longawaited All-Star experience was a win for South Florida, though it came with an inevitable onlywith-the-Marlins backdrop.
There was owner Jeffrey Loria, prior to the game, fleeing the NL clubhouse in exasperation about being barraged with questions about how close he is to selling the team and insisting there is no pending sale to talk about. Then there was Miami billionaire Jorge Mas, who told the Sun Sentinel that he is “working hard” to purchase the team, seated in the row behind Loria.
Team president David Samson said Mas purchased the seats and insisted, “There’s no hidden meaning on that.”
Fox put on a watchable show with interviews of hitters getting set to leadoff innings as well as chats with George Springer and Bryce Harper while they were in the outfield.
Indians coach Brad Mills, filling in for ailing manager Terry Francona, got in a playful jab at the team that defeated Cleveland in the 2016 World Series, noting that Cano’s decisive homer came against “a Cubs pitcher. That was kind of nice.”
Cano not only prevented a further foray into extra innings, he inspired Cruz’s photo quest by pointing out to his Mariners teammate that West has umpired more than 5,000 games.
“He was like, ‘You know what, you’re right. I’m going to take a picture,’” Cano said. “And he took the picture. That was one of the best moments in the game.”