2025 All-Star thread but not a game thread

[IdahoBert]

For the first time in a long time I actually care, not that my “caring“ means much more than anyone else’s, but we all have a lot more at stake in this than we usually do.

This thread is not intended to take the place of a specific game thread, but is just for the random discussion that arises leading up to the All-Star festivities  

What motivated me is that when I tuned in to mlb.tv to discover that the lowly Orioles are trying to complete a doubleheader sweep of the mighty New York Mets, one of the first things I heard from the announcers is that Skubal has been named the starter for the game. I don’t have any more confirmation of that yet, but whatever, knock yourselves out.

[holygoat]

[IdahoBert]

I can’t find any independent verification that Skubal will start the All-Star game for the AL team.

I think the Orioles announcers were speaking hypothetically given that almost everybody on earth thinks it would not only be a legitimately justified choice, but great from a marketing angle as well.

The only place I could find where anyone was predicting differently is from a writer on Motor City Bengals speculated that Aaron Boone might instead play favorites and name his own starter Max Fried.

Hopefully, when Skubal pitches an astonishing stellar game on national TV tomorrow night it will be obvious that he is the best choice to start.

[oblong]

Aaron Boone is not an idiot. If it’s anybody but Skubal he will be laughed out of the league. So much so the league might intervene and be like “dude… WTF?  You are banned for life”

[lordstanley]

I thought one of the Tigers broadcasters the other day - I forget whether it was Dickerson or Benedetti - said that Boone had told Hinch that he was debating between Skubal and Fried partly because of Fried's connection to Atlanta.

[IdahoBert]

18 minutes ago, oblong said:

Aaron Boone is not an idiot. If it’s anybody but Skubal he will be laughed out of the league. So much so the league might intervene and be like “dude… WTF?  You are banned for life”

That’s what I’m thinking. 

[lordstanley]

Here's a trivia question. The '68 Tigers had four All Stars in the ASG in Houston that year. Three are obvious - McLain (3rd pitcher behind starter Luis Tiant despite an 18-2 record at the break), Freehan (starter), Horton (starter). The 4th less so. Who was he? He was a position player and he was the only Tiger to get a hit that game, one of only three the AL got that night. Answer at the 1:09:15 mark.

 

 

[Shinzaki]

Per Emily Waldon...Mize is being added to the All Star team!

[Sports_Freak]

52 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Here's a trivia question. The '68 Tigers had four All Stars in the ASG in Houston that year. Three are obvious - McLain (3rd pitcher behind starter Luis Tiant despite an 18-2 record at the break), Freehan (starter), Horton (starter). The 4th less so. Who was he? He was a position player and he was the only Tiger to get a hit that game, one of only three the AL got that night. Answer at the 1:09:15 mark.

 

 

Didnt watch but it has to be Kaline?

[IdahoBert]

7 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Per Emily Waldon...Mize is being added to the All Star team!

So the Tigers have six guys on the team out of 35. Torres, Baez, Riley, Skubal, McKinstry, and now Mize. The last I checked, we were tied with the Dodgers for five players so now we have more than anyone else. 

Posted six hours ago I counted the number of players on the AL roster and it was 35 but when I asked this question through Google it said there were 32 players, 33 players, and 34 players and none of these various AI generated articles agreed with each other.

Apparently Google AI cannot discriminate between data in terms of linear time because at one time all these different responses were true, so it “thinks” they are all true and equivalent now.

So I think I’ll trust the MLB site and my ability to count.

[EDIT] As of 7:10 AM EDT there is still no independent confirmation that Mize has been added to the All-Star roster. 

[lordstanley]

10 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Didnt watch but it has to be Kaline?

Don Wert! 

[Sports_Freak]

13 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Don Wert! 

Ahhh...Kaline missed all of June with an injury. That probably cost him a spot in the All Star game that year. He certainly didn't miss very many All Star appearances....

[HugoD]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

Don Wert! 

Wow - would not have guessed that.  68 was really my first year of following and don’t remember all star game, but I would have guessed stormin Norman or Northrup maybe 

[Sports_Freak]

This will trigger countless Tiger fans. It's almost like....trolling them?

 

[oblong]

I hope Avila takes some pride in that.  He deserves it.  Two things can be true at the same time.  He did help build a foundation in terms of systems and people but someone else had to take it to the next level.  No shame in that.   Half of the experts on Tigers Twitter wanted Harris fired 11 months ago so F them too.

 

[lordstanley]

I’m a sucker for these clips of players calling their parents or wife after being called up to the majors or making an all-star game. Subsequent to this, Woo went out and no-hit the Yankees for 7 innings. 
 

 

[IdahoBert]

It’s interesting that everyone and their grandmother knows that Casey Mize is now an All-Star although the Tigers mlb.com page has still said nothing about it. I guess updating things on that app is not something of particular urgency for whomever is in charge. 

[kdog]

13 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Per Emily Waldon...Mize is being added to the All Star team!

Estevez from the Royals replaced Jacob DeGrom. I haven't seen anything official on Mize.

[oblong]

31 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

It’s interesting that everyone and their grandmother knows that Casey Mize is now an All-Star although the Tigers mlb.com page has still said nothing about it. I guess updating things on that app is not something of particular urgency for whomever is in charge. 

I think they want to do it "live" before the fans tonight.  Like McKinstry.

Just a hunch on my part though.  I'll be there.

[kdog]

 

[IdahoBert]

28 minutes ago, oblong said:

I think they want to do it "live" before the fans tonight.  Like McKinstry.

Just a hunch on my part though.  I'll be there.

I forgot Friday is your night.

You know, this holding off with the building of suspense is sort of like acting you’ve forgotten your child’s birthday and then you “surprise” them at the end of the day. As a fan with a near child-like affection for the team, I personally find this annoying, but oh well. 

[lordstanley]

The game’s on Apple+. The Apple CEO will come running onto a stage beside the field to make the Mize announcement to wild applause from nerds. 

[lordstanley]

Apparently official now. 

 

Edited Friday at 05:54 PM by lordstanley

[IdahoBert]

Right now, the Tigers have six all stars and the Dodgers have five, which means the Tigers have won the blank measuring contest. 

[monkeytargets39]

I’m glad none of our guys are going to ruin their swings by doing the hr derby too