The 86th annual All-Star game will take place at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The festivities, though, got started off with a few bangs on Monday night with baseball’s Home Run Derby.
Todd Frazier seemed all too comfortable in his home park as he did something he’d done 15 times before in 2015: hit a ball into the red-shirted screaming fans beyond the outfield wall.
The only difference? This dinger would win this year’s All-Star Home Run Derby and propel the Reds‘ third baseman into a hometown hero.
Frazier homered in the waning seconds of the four-minute championship round to tie Pederson. He promptly won it just one pitch into his 30-second bonus round (for hitting two homers greater than 425 feet)-giving him 15 home runs in the final round.
In a sport famous for not using a clock, it was timed rounds that made the annual competition more a dramatic spectacle than in years past.
Frazier, who has 25 homers on the season, benefited from an energetic home crowd to capture the Derby crown over Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson and kick off the All-Star festivities in an exciting way.
After the competition, he mentioned how much of an effect the Cincinnati crowd had on his 39-home run performance, via ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
“Big-time impact. Just hearing the crowd roar, call my name, adrenaline. And those last minutes of each round, [they] really picked me up and [helped] drive the ball out of the park a lot more.”
The new format proved vital to the 29-year-old, who credited the pressure and clock via Steve Gardner of USA TODAY Sports:
“You swing at everything once you’re down, no matter how much time you’ve got,” Frazier said. “When you get the opportunity, you just have to hit it out no matter where the ball’s pitched. I felt like a little kid out there in the backyard swinging at everything.”
Check out Frazier’s walk-off blast:
He became just the second player ever to win a Home Run Derby in his home stadium, via ESPN Stats & Information.
Frazier takes his Derby win into Tuesday’s All-Star Game where he starts at third base and bats second for the National League. Its his second appearance in the Midsummer Classic and first as a starter.
Rain Delay?
Unfortunately, the weather forecast does not look too promising for Tuesday night. Here’s the latest from the National Weather Service:
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
There was concern that rain would affect Monday’s Derby, but the sky stayed clear and no postponement or delay (besides modified timing rules to quicken the pace) was necessary.
Tonight, though, may be a different story.
Ultimately, it’ll come down to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision.
Arms Race
Dodgers’ ace Zack Greinke starts on the mound for the NL with the Houston Astros‘ Dallas Keuchel opposing him for the American League.
Greinke’s league-leading 1.39 ERA should prove a tough test for AL hitters. The former Cy Young-winner takes a 35.2-inning scoreless streak over his last five starts into the game.
Greinke was named the NL’s starter after Washington Nationals‘ right-hander Max Scherzer pitched on Sunday.
Keuchel has been no slouch himself, though, while going relatively unknown. In a league-high 137.1 innings, he has a 2.23 ERA and hasn’t allowed an earned run in seven of his 19 starts on the season.
Youth Movement
After injury replacements and the Final Vote winners were announced, a record 20 All-Stars are 25 years old or younger, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Nats outfielder Bryce Harper, at age 22, is the youngest. He’ll appear in his third All-Star game-just the 10th player to do so before the age of 23.
Harper will start in the outfield and hit third for the NL-a reward for his MVP-worthy first half which saw him hit .339 with a league-leading 1.168 OPS and already career-highs in home runs (26) and RBI (61).
Harper along with five other players 25-years-old or younger will start in the Mid-Summer Classic-Pederson and Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the NL and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the AL.
There’s a First Time for Everything
ESPN Stats & Info also pointed out something that’s never occurred before in an All-Star Game.
That’s right. No Yankees or Red Sox in tonight’s starting lineups.
Three Yankees were selected to the roster: reliever Dellin Betances, outfielder Brett Gardner and first baseman Mark Teixeira.
Brock Holt is the lone Boston player to be chosen.
The biggest Yankee omission might be Alex Rodriguez, who was beat out by fellow designated hitters Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder in the AL.
A-Rod, who turns 40 later this month, is hitting .278 with 18 home runs and 51 RBI as the three-hole hitter for the first-place Yankees.
Home Field on the Line
As with every All-Star Game, home-field advantage is granted in the World Series for the winning league.
Although the NL leads the all-time series 43-40-2, the AL has come out ahead as of late. The league has won the last two Midsummer Classics and 14 of the last 18.
Coverage of baseball’s 86th All-Star Game at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park begins at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday on FOX.
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