The Opener

1. The National League won the All-Star Game by a score of … actually it’s not completely clear. The game was tied 6-6 after nine innings so we got to see the first-ever swing-off. Each team appointed three sluggers1 who each got three swings to see which team could amass most homers. As far as I saw, this got near-universal rave reviews on social media and in our texts to each other.2 Kyle Schwarber going three-for-three homers-for-swings to win it for the NL might be the most impressive thing I’ve seen on a baseball field this summer. A lot of the guys acknowledged some nerves in their (probably unnecessary) pre-at bat interviews, but Schwarbs? He’s got water ice in his veins.

2. Cal Raleigh won the Home Run Derby. The MLB home run leader at the break (he’s got 38!) outlasted young Rays slugger Junior Caminero in the final round. Plenty more on Big Dumper momentarily.

3. MLB is apparently good with the Rays playing postseason games at Steinbrenner Field, their temporary, usually-the-Yankees-spring-training-facility home. It’s easy to imagine the logistical difficulties of this, and also the quirky wormhole-ish vibe it could inspire if a key postseason moment in 2025 takes place there. Alas, the Rays have cooled off considerably since this entered the discussion.

HK: My husband, Jake, is attending All-Star this year (he’s a sports editor at the Associated Press) and on Tuesday, I received a very unexpected text from him:

It’s good to still be able to surprise each other 11 years into our relationship and I did not know that Jake cared that much about hat shapes! But do you know who I am well aware cares deeply about hat shapes? Zach. 

Which I did. But even if I hadn’t, he would have seen them because this is what the players were wearing in game! Flat-front hats. It’s giving this, or at least this — except subtle. Jake is a fan, as established. But I still want to get Zach’s take. 

ZC: So, one of the only issues with America’s most classic contribution to fashion is the way the front of a cap is partitioned by panels stitched together. A lot of times, it’s totally seamless and fine. But generally, the panel arrangement creates a structured, air-filled peak at the front of people’s heads that doesn’t look natural on most. You know, this thing.

This panel arrangement — to me, the most momentous trial balloon of the All-Star Game (take that, automated strike zone) — solves the middle-of-the-logo stitching issue.

Yet somehow it accentuates the nobody-has-a-bottlecap-shaped-head issue.

The new hats create a banner front panel that reminds me of a helmet visor or one of those intense curved computer screens people with fancy financial jobs use.

I don’t know if this is the best possible design improvement, but I’m shockingly on board with the attempt given how poorly this could have gone. They evoke pillbox caps just a little bit without changing the basic silhouette of the cap. I’m a fan. Not unreservedly so, but fan.

HK: Given how intensely people tend to respond to any uniform changes, I’m a little shocked to not have noticed much social chatter about this change. Especially if there’s a chance of broader implementation! My preferred hat aesthetic is probably best described as “slouchy” so I don’t think I’d like the look of it on me, but I do think it’s clean and crisp in a way that reads as extra professional. I like it as a way of differentiating the proliferation of casual baseball hats that say things like “bookworm” or “butter” or “tater tot slut” (I assume someone has made that) from the uniform baseball hats. 

ZC: Yeah, I’m trying to imagine a future where kids look at our current on-field hats with wonder like we look at the old short-billed vintage caps of the early 1900s. Maybe it’s because of these curvy panel hats.

I’m holding out hope it’s because everyone adopted the dad hat, the best cap out there.

The Bullpen

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Let’s just take a minute to actually watch Schwarber hit three long home runs on three swings last night.

I worry that recap actually doesn’t do it justice because it doesn’t emphasize that he didn’t take a single other swing. He wasn’t just selling out over and over until he made contact; he was precise with his power. It made me think about just how good modern pitching is. Yes, pitching. Sometimes people will point to declining batting averages and lack of two-strike approach to argue that contemporary hitters are slouches compared to historical Hall of Famers who were inevitably getting third or fourth looks in every game against starters topping out at 95 mph. And obviously those old timey pitchers were trying to get guys out and it wasn’t just batting practice out there so this is an imperfect comparison. But Schwarber’s display demonstrated how, if you turn down the difficulty on the pitches they’re facing, modern sluggers are monsters. He literally never missed. The reason Schwarber doesn’t have a bazillion OPS with 300 homers in the regular season? The pitching he’s facing normally is insane. –HK

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Regarding the rest of the All-Star week off-field fashion — which, at some point maybe I will write about how insincere a lot of the all athletes are style influencers now strain of social promotion feels — I have just one overarching comment: Some of our strongest men seem to fear volume on the bottom. I’m not necessarily advocating for an experimental flare or anything that would necessitate pleats (although that could be nice!), but please consider a totally untapered straight-leg pant. Also: socks. Basically, not this. –HK 

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I know nobody likes when the broadcast does in-game interviews with players on the field. And part of my personal pet peeve with them during the regular season is that baseball is uniquely suited to mic-ing up someone close to — but crucially not immediately part of — the action. Anyone in the bullpen or the dugout is a better option than an infielder trying to decipher multiple voices in their ear while staying ready for split-second defensive reactions. Ostensibly, the showcase setting of the All-Star game is better suited to these stunts. If a player is distracted at an inopportune moment, at least it won’t impact the standings or their stat line. In practice though, I liked it even less than when broadcasts do it during the regular season!