AL Wins All-Star Game 5-3, Regular Season Resumes Friday

July 17, 2024 by Staff

The American League won the All-star Game on Tuesday night, 5-3, amidst mixed reviews and a wide variety of commentary.

Now we can get back to the slightly more predictable endeavor of MLB fantasy games and wagering as the regular season resumes on Friday.

As for the All-Star game, we saw youngsters shine in questionably-designed uniforms. Mac Engel in the Fort Worth Star Telegram wrote:

Start with the uniforms, which look like something out of a closet in your local Halloween spook house. How the designs for the 2024 MLB All-Star teams made it beyond the concept stage says that someone in the big league office was helping out a friend, or their spouse. Not only are they not good, but that outfit makes you look fat, and your butt look big, too. If you turn out the lights, players wearing the uniforms could function as glow-in-the-dark cones to land a 747 at DFW Airport.

We were taken aback by how seemingly little the all-star players were compensated for skipping a mid-season vacation. In a different article in the same publication, by Clarence E. Hill, Jr. reported on player remuneration.

It's well documented that the winning team receives a $25,000 prize per player. But if a player opts to wear a microphone for the broadcast, they can receive an extra $10,000 bonus. In addition, they receive a $117.50 per day food benefit and $1,000 in spending cash for the event.

This year's event was held at Globe Life Field in Arlington which holds 40,300.

The AL now has a 48-44-2 all-time lead in the All-Star Game which was first staged in 1933 in front of 47,595. This year's contest drew 39,343 to make it the smallest crowd to attend an All-Star Game in the last four seasons. That isn't so much a commentary on the sport as venues have gotten smaller with the concentration on providing a variety of amenities and seating choices. In other words, squeezing every last cent out of a family to enjoy a day, or night, at the ballpark.

Personally, Fenway remains my favorite park due to its size and history. The capacity of the Boston venue is just 37,755. The 'Cathedral of Baseball' opened on April 20, 1912.

Was It Worth It?

The game had a few moments and was over in 2:28, making it the shortest all-star game since 1988. The NL stranded 6 runners, while the AL was efficient with its 5 hits.

Paul Skenes, the Pittsburgh rookie and No. 1 over-all pick in the 2023 draft out of LSU has dazzled the MLB, thus far, with a 6-0 record, a 1.90 ERA and a 0l92 WHIP. He pitched a scoreless first inning start with 11 strikes in 16 pitches.

The offensive highlights were provided by Shohei Ohtani who blasted a 400-foot, 3-run homer in the top of the 3rd to put the NL ahead, 3-0. But the AL rallied back in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run double to center by Juan Soto who later scored to tie the game on a single to left by David Fry.

No more runs would be scored until the bottom of the 5th when the AL plated 2 on Jarren Duran's 413-foot homer.

Regular Season Resumes Friday

The Orioles, who lead the NY Yankees by a single game in the AL East, and the Boston Red Sox by 4.5, begin a series at the Texas Rangers who are just 5 games out of first in the AL West, despite 46-50 record. Texas is 9-4 in its last 13 games.

The Yankees host Tampa for a 3-game set.

Cleveland has a 58-37 record for a 4.5-game lead on Minnesota in the AL Central and a half-game lead on Baltimore for best record in the junior circuit. The Guardians will be entertaining the San Diego Padres who are tied with Arizona at 7 games adrift of the LA Dodgers in the NL west.

Seattle, which holds a 1-game edge on Houston in the AL West, will host those Astros for a four-game set this weekend.

The team with the top record in all of baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies, will visit the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers will wait until Saturday to open a 2-game series at Minnesota

The NL West Dodgers will host Boston for 3 games Friday through Sunday.