Bregman leads AL to All-Star game W
Astro's 3rd baseman hits tie-breaking HR in 10th • 1st Jewish player to take MVP since it ws instituted in 1962
In a baseball All-Star Game that set a record for home runs, Alex Bregman had the most important one.
Bregman, the Jewish third baseman for the Houston Astros, snapped a 10th-inning tie with his two-run shot to power the American League to an 8-6 victory over the National League on Tuesday night in Washington DC in the 89th edition of the Midsummer Classic.
Playing in his first All-Star Game, the third-year major leaguer was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He is the first Jewish player to win the award since it was instituted in 1962.
Cleveland Indians Jewish star Al Rosen would have had a chance for the award in one of his four All-Star appearances from 1952-55, but there was no MVP named in those years.
Bregman’s home run off Ross Stripling of the Los Angeles Dodgers gave his side a 7-5 lead.
The 24-year-old said he “was just trying to put a line drive in play and it left the yard.”
“It was crazy. A lot of fun,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN.
His Astros teammate George Springer followed with another homer off Stripling.
The game featured 10 home runs, easily surpassing the record of six set in 1951 and tied in 1954 and 1971. It was the sixth consecutive victory for the American League.
Bregman had appeared in Monday night’s Home Run Derby but was knocked out in the first round. He has 20 home runs this season after hitting 19 all of last year.
His Astros won the World Series last season over the Dodgers in seven games, and Bregman also was a member of the US team that took the World Baseball Classic title in 2017.
Meanwhile, Tony Clark, head of the Players’ Association, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who have opposing views on so many subjects, can agree on one thing – the talent in the big leagues is overflowing.
That was on display Tuesday night.
Each team hit five home runs. Cincinnati’s Joey Votto started the 10th with the final homer of the game, but Toronto’s J.A. Happ got through the rest of the inning without incident for the save.
The core of the debate between Clark and Manfred is how to best use the talent they see every day to help cure the problems that continue to dog the game.
Clark and Manfred, hours before the All-Star Game, said they liked the emotion (read: talent) Bryce Harper showed in winning the Home Run Derby on Monday night in front of his home crowd. The buttoned-down Manfred, baseball’s commissioner, even cracked a smile over Harper’s attire – a bat bearing the markings of the American flag, a red and white headband and red, white and blue elastic sleeve on his right arm.
Yes, MLB just may tell the fashion police to take a step back. But, of course, Manfred added that the players had agreed to what a big-league uniform is supposed to look like in the latest basic agreement.
The two men talked about rule changes in the game – the slide rule into second base, the slide rule into home plate and instant replay.
It’s clear that Manfred wants more changes and has the power to make them. A game with more strikeouts than hits and too much dead time worries him. Ditto for the shift.
Attendance is down about 5 percent. Manfred blames it on the cold weather in April and May, but it’s nothing a pitch clock wouldn’t cure, right?
Clark is the players’ spokesman. It’s clear they’ve told him that they are not in favor of rapid-fire changes. Clark says he doesn’t want fans coming to the park and not recognizing the game they grew up watching.
He says the players are the stewards of the game. He says they are the ones who have to live with the changes being – some would say – forced upon them. Clark borrowed a line from Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona when he talked about the “unintended consequences” of making too many changes in the game.
Instant replay, for instance, has made the dirt-kicking manager a thing of the past. There’s nothing for them to argue about anymore.
There’s still emotion and passion. But managers pretty much have become silent entities that sit in the dugout and tell the bench coach when to put on a double steal.
The only time you see most of them is when they come to the top step of the dugout and tell the umpires they want a play reviewed.
It seems the only thing Manfred and Clark could agree on was that they both like passionate players. On everything else, it was one saying night and the other saying day.
Clark said when he talks to players they are more and more in favor of having the DH in both leagues. Recently Manfred was talking along the some lines. But on Tuesday afternoon he said that he did not see anything changing with the DH.
He said he was not in favor of seeing a brand of baseball – one of the few left that still lets the pitcher hit – become extinct. That would be extinct like the Dodo Bird, a flightless bird that resembles a pitcher with a bat in his hands. (JTA and TNS)
Orioles’ Machado headed to Dodgers
Manny Machado will be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package of prospects barring a last-minute snag in negotiations it was reported on Tuesday, hours before the All-Star Game.
According to the report, the Baltimore Orioles intended to complete the trade on Wednesday, sending the 26-year-old Machado to the reigning National League champions for a package of prospects unless the Milwaukee Brewers or Philadelphia Phillies emerge with a better offer.
During the All-Star Game broadcast Tuesday night, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweeted a separate report also saying Machado would be dealt to the Dodgers “with more certainty.”
Rosenthal interviewed Machado in the AL dugout during the FOX broadcast in the sixth inning; the Orioles shortstop did not admit to knowing for certain if a trade was complete. But he did answer regarding his appreciation toward the Orioles franchise.
Entering the All-Star break, Machado is batting .315 with 24 homers, 65 RBIs and a .963 OPS. (Reuters)