Realmuto Hits First Phillies All-Star Game HR in 40 Years

American League 5, National League 2
All-Star Game - Tuesday Night, July 13th in Denver

One Sentence Summary:  Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. led the A.L. All-Stars to their eighth consecutive win as the Mid-Summer Classic returned after a year absence caused by the pandemic.

What It Means:  Yes, I watched the entire game as has been my tradition every year since the mid-1980s.  Yes, I enjoyed seeing the top players in the majors showcased on a national stage and it was fun to actually root for Freddie Freeman, Max Scherzer and Fernando Tatis, Jr.  And yes, I complained early and often to my family about the atrocious uniforms being worn by both teams as MLB opted to forego having each team wear their normal uniforms in favor of poorly designed, pajama-like, beer league softball uniforms.  I hated them.

What Happened:  Guerrero homered in the third to give the A.L. an 2-0 lead and he added an RBI groundout in the third to cement his MVP status for the game.  Mike Zunino also homered for the A.L.  Shohei Ohtani was the main story of the game as he was the A.L.'s starting pitcher while also leading off.  He pitched a perfect first inning but went 0 for 2 at the plate.  Xander Bogaerts had two hits for the junior circuit with no N.L. player collected more than one hit.  Ohtani was credited with the win with White Sox closer Liam Hendriks securing the save.  Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, tagged for two runs in his two innings of work, took the loss for the N.L.

Featured Cards:  With Giants catcher Buster Posey injured, Realmuto got the start behind the plate for the N.L.  It was Realmuto's third All-Star Game selection and his second with the Phillies.  He caught the first five innings, receiving pitches from starter Scherzer, Burnes, German Marquez and Trevor Rogers.  Realmuto struck out swinging against Lance Lynn to end the second, but hit a solo home run in the fifth off Tigers pitcher Gregory Soto.  The homer broke a 40-year draught for the Phillies, the longest dry spell at the time, as the last Phillies player to hit a home run in an All-Star Game was Mike Schmidt in 1981.

We watched anxiously for Zack Wheeler to appear from the bullpen and we were bummed he didn't enter the game while Realmuto was still catching.  For whatever reason, N.L. manager Dave Roberts held Wheeler back until there were two outs in the top of the ninth.  Wheeler relieved Craig Kimbrel and struck out A's slugger Matt Olson on three pitches.

Memory Lane

From 1996 - Attending the All-Star Game at The Vet
From 2009 - All-Star Game memories
2010 All-Star Game - N.L. 3, A.L. 1 in Anaheim
2011 All-Star Game - N.L. 5, A.L. 1 in Phoenix
2012 All-Star Game - N.L. 8, A.L. 0 in Kansas City
2013 All-Star Game - A.L. 3, N.L. 0 in Flushing
2014 All-Star Game - A.L. 5, N.L. 3 in Minneapolis

2015 All-Star Game - A.L. 6, N.L. 3 in Cincinnati
2016 All-Star Game - A.L. 4, N.L. 2 in San Diego
2017 All-Star Game - A.L. 2, N.L. 1 in Miami
2018 All-Star Game - A.L. 8, N.L. 6 (10) in Washington
2019 All-Star Game - A.L. 4, N.L. 3 in Cleveland

2020 All-Star Game - Cancelled

2021 All-Star Game - A.L. 5, N.L. 2 in Denver