All-Star Game Thread

[BruisedCrew]

4 minutes ago, Brian said:

What's the hex? 

See my comment above. 

The Brewers league has lost the ASG about 80% of the time. I don’t feel like going back and counting but it’s in the neighborhood of 11-43. 

[folly412]

Brewers draft pick's dad had some nice lobs to Schwarber.

[folly412]

At least for the All Star Game, that's a way better way to end it than the runner on second.

[BruisedCrew]

A goofy end to one of the more entertaining All-Star games in recent years.

[liveforoctober]

Just getting home and catching up on everything.. I thought there would have been more mention in this thread about Suarez getting hit by that pitch. Considering all the murmuring that he is a trade target for us. We will see if it's just a bruise or something more after..

[Pugger]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

I'm going all in on the conspiracy that Misiorowski was added to the AS roster to try and boost his odds of finishing Top 2 in ROTY and getting out of Milwaukee a year earlier if they don't even bother to pitch him. The whole point of him being added was because he was available to pitch.

I didn't get to see the game.  Did Misirowski play?

[wiguy94]

2 hours ago, Pugger said:

I didn't get to see the game.  Did Misirowski play?

Yeah he ending up pitching the 8th. 

[Jake McKibbin]

7 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I'm going all in on the conspiracy that Misiorowski was added to the AS roster to try and boost his odds of finishing Top 2 in ROTY and getting out of Milwaukee a year earlier if they don't even bother to pitch him. The whole point of him being added was because he was available to pitch.

So its really interesting now to see.

Per Baseball reference, Mis now has 0.7 WAR, but the leader in the NL is Caleb Durbin with 2.0 WAR. The Brewers also have Isaac Collinson 1.4 bWAR, while Drake Baldwin in at 1.9. 

This really is a weak class in the NL, but I do wonder if the extension conversation is arising because he may get that extra year

It would also be interesting to note if he does have limited starts/innings, how would that affect his votes, particularly given the blowback from the All Star Game

I'd say he's got a good shot of finishing top 2 on name recognition alone at this point

[Jimbo]

This was like watching a soccer game being decided on penalty kicks.  But I guess better than going on for another six innings.  I actually watched three innings of this, the most in a number of years.

 

[Sixtolezcano]

It’s just an exhibition game that has little meaning. Just look at the way virtually every player treats it. My God, it is nothing more than a spring training game and another way to make more money. If they really cared they could give all all-star generated money to something that really matters like the Texas Hill country floods, rather than line their own pockets. Greed, it really is sad, how much money is enough.

[sveumrules]

4 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

Per Baseball reference, Mis now has 0.7 WAR, but the leader in the NL is Caleb Durbin with 2.0 WAR. The Brewers also have Isaac Collinson 1.4 bWAR, while Drake Baldwin in at 1.9. 

This really is a weak class in the NL

Over at FanGraphs, Chad Patrick leads all NL rookies with 2.2 rWAR | 2.0 fWAR. Logan Henderson is still 3rd among NL rookie pitchers with 1.0 rWAR too.

Sticking with the FanGraphs calculations, rookie NL position players have totaled 4.4 WAR so far, with NL rookie pitchers coming in at 2.9 rWAR cumulatively.

Brewers rookie position players are at 3.0 WAR and Brewers rookie pitchers are at 2.7 rWAR (& that’s with Elvin Rodriguez, Connor Thomas, and Craig Yoho dragging things down by -1.5 rWAR), both of which are tops in the NL.

This really is a weak rookie class…for the 14 other NL teams.

Going back to Arnold’s first year in 2023, Brewers rookie position players are at an MLB best 14.1 WAR now, over seven wins better than the Reds (6.5) and Dodgers (6.3) in 2nd/3rd among NL clubs.

[CheeseheadInQC]

4 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

So its really interesting now to see.

Per Baseball reference, Mis now has 0.7 WAR, but the leader in the NL is Caleb Durbin with 2.0 WAR. The Brewers also have Isaac Collinson 1.4 bWAR, while Drake Baldwin in at 1.9. 

This really is a weak class in the NL, but I do wonder if the extension conversation is arising because he may get that extra year

It would also be interesting to note if he does have limited starts/innings, how would that affect his votes, particularly given the blowback from the All Star Game

I'd say he's got a good shot of finishing top 2 on name recognition alone at this point

With Mis eventually hitting an innings limit, Baldwin would probably have to slow down to not win it (catcher with an .800+ OPS). The second place vote-getter seems likely to be a Brewer or Dodger (probably Kim more so than the relievers).

[Pugger]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

This was like watching a soccer game being decided on penalty kicks.  But I guess better than going on for another six innings.  I actually watched three innings of this, the most in a number of years.

 

Wasn't there an uproar years ago when the All Star Game ended up a tie at Miller Park?

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, Pugger said:

Wasn't there an uproar years ago when the All Star Game ended up a tie at Miller Park?

Yes, it was brought up during the television broadcast.  I'm sure a few members of this board were in attendance that night.

 

[trwi7]

That was such a stupid way to end the game.  First of all it's an exhibition so who cares if it ends in a tie?  Then you get Verducci needing to talk to every player and asking them the exact same thing before their three swings taking a ridiculous amount of time and to top it off you get Joe Davis trying to drum up excitement on balls "headed towards the wall" that land 100 feet short.  Horrible end to that game.

[tmwiese55]

I rarely watch this stuff, but was trying to pay attention for when the MKE pitchers got in so was flipping to it.  Biggest thing I noticed is the length of commercial breaks, seemed at the level of NFL games.

Yea the ending was gimmicky, but tough to come up with a better solution since pitchers don't wanna pitch.  I guess the HR contest was entertaining enough, but yea don't need all the interviews in between dragging it out

[RobDeer 45]

I've got a soft spot for the All Star game.  Brings me back to my youth.  I know it's not the same but it's still great for me.  It's for fun but you can't really play baseball half speed, so it still works.  Compared to NFL and NBA, it's way better.  I actually loved the HR derby to finish it.  My kids were going nuts.

[Team Canada]

Imagine being the hitter:

IIRC, the previous high for a slider (Miz and someone else?) was something like 94 or 96. He blew that away.

Dugouts were just laughing at how ridiculous it was.

 

Passan used it as his memorable moment:

"Jacob Misiorowski threw a 98.1 mph slider at the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. Both dugouts filled with laughter at the preposterousness of it. Misiorowski's teammate with the Milwaukee Brewers, Trevor Megill, summed up the pitch with three simple words: "Oh my god." Of all people, he should have understood that the rookie right-hander was capable of such things, but then Misiorowski's capacity to amaze and entertain is boundless.

The 23-year-old rookie was the unexpected story of All-Star week, the center of attention in a game featuring Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. He has started five games and thrown 25.2 innings in the major leagues. No player had ever been named an All-Star with such little experience. And yet Misiorowski's eighth inning -- 18 pitches, nine fastballs over 100 mph with the hardest at 102.3, one hit allowed to Aranda, no runs -- made Skenes' stuff look tame by comparison. Misiorowski didn't just look good. He looked every bit an All-Star."

[BruisedCrew]

44 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

Imagine being the hitter:

IIRC, the previous high for a slider (Miz and someone else?) was something like 94 or 96. He blew that away.

Dugouts were just laughing at how ridiculous it was.

 

Passan used it as his memorable moment:

"Jacob Misiorowski threw a 98.1 mph slider at the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. Both dugouts filled with laughter at the preposterousness of it. Misiorowski's teammate with Milwaukee Brewers, Trevor Megill, summed up the pitch with three simple words: "Oh my god." Of all people, he should have understood that the rookie right-hander was capable of such things, but then Misiorowski's capacity to amaze and entertain is boundless.

The 23-year-old rookie was the unexpected story of All-Star week, the center of attention in a game featuring Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. He has started five games and thrown 25.2 innings in the major leagues. No player had ever been named an All-Star with such little experience. And yet Misiorowski's eighth inning -- 18 pitches, nine fastballs over 100 mph with the hardest at 102.3, one hit allowed to Aranda, no runs -- made Skenes' stuff look tame by comparison. Misiorowski didn't just look good. He looked every bit an All-Star."

I can’t imagine being the hitter, but Arozarena sent that sixth pitch to the base of the wall. There were a couple,of other hard hit balls too. 
 

I was impressed that, after all,of the hoopla, Misioroski was able to maintain his composure and pound the strike zone 

[Team Canada]

12 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

Arozarena sent that sixth pitch to the base of the wall.

Yeah, if you throw middle-middle FBs, they will get crushed regardless of whether they're 100mph or not.

[BruisedCrew]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Yes, it was brought up during the television broadcast.  I'm sure a few members of this board were in attendance that night.

 

I'm one of the people who was in attendance for the tie game in 2002. I have always thought that all of the whining and wailing about the game ending in a tie was ridiculous.

To show how much I cared about who won, I was already home with the TV on when the game was called after the 11th inning (not after the 9th like one of the announcers said last night).

The All Star events in 2002 were a great experience and a lot of fun. First, we went to the fan expo downtown on Sunday morning and then saw most of the Legends game in the afternoon. On Monday, we arrived early to watch batting practice before the HR Derby then saw the Derby itself.

On Tuesday, we again arrived early for BP and the All Start Game and surrounding activities.

After all of those hours spent on All Star festivities, we had had enough after the ninth inning, especially since I had to be up for an early meeting at work the next day. By that time, the biggest stars had exited the game and some like Barry Bonds were already on planes headed for their next stop. The game was going to be decided by the players who were late additions to the roster and players who were only there because their team needed a representative.

I was glad to see a 7-7 game with 25 hits and some real action instead of one of those 2-0 games with a succession of fireballing closers striking everyone out.

The All Star Game was much more special in my younger days, when the players played for league pride and players like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron would hit at the top of the order and get 4 or 5 ABs. It was also a chance to see players we'd never see otherwise, something that isn't an issue anymore with all games being televised and interleague play. The game is still the only All Star game in a major sport that is played like an actual game. But still, nobody, including the players, really cares who wins.

BTW, I also attended the ASG at County Stadium in 1975 and really enjoyed that.

I was only 3 years old when the ASG was played in Milwaukee in 1955 so I didn't see that one. But I have seen highlights of Stan Musial hitting a game winning walk off HR in the 12th inning in his 5th plate appearance of the day. Years ago I did buy a program from that game at a collectibles show.

[dlk9s]

40 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

Yeah, if you throw middle-middle FBs, they will get crushed regardless of whether they're 100mph or not.

I wanted him to throw more "off speed" stuff so that the hitters couldn't time his fastball as well, but I read that Miz was going in there to pretty much just throw gas. I would've loved to see him strike some guys out, but no runs and just a single was prettay, prettay good.

He looked like he was having so much fun, too.

[wallus]

I thought the Allstar game and Home Run Derby were the best I have seen in a while. 

[RightFieldCoder]

13 hours ago, BruisedCrew said:

nobody, including the players, really cares who wins.

The pitchers cared, They didn't want to have to pitch in a 12th inning but also didn't want to groove a pitch in the 11th to make sure the game ended.

[thebruce44]

On 7/16/2025 at 8:21 AM, Jimbo said:

Yes, it was brought up during the television broadcast.  I'm sure a few members of this board were in attendance that night.

 

I was there. To me it was more of a "how did nobody have a contingency plan for this" than anger at how it ended. I got to see 12 innings of the best players in the world. Hard to complain about that.