We'll start with the most significant play of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game: a hit batsman. In the top of the third, with a man on first and the AL already leading 3-0, Tampa's Junior Caminero got smacked on the hand by a 98-mph pitch from St. Louis's Riley O’Brien. Caminero was replaced by a pinch runner as he left to get X-rays, and immediately the day's earlier news that the owners would try to force players to participate in the 2028 Olympics looked even more ridiculous. While Caminero's examination yielded relief, indicating he should be able to play for the Rays on Friday, the wait for that announcement dampened what was already an alternately dull and maudlin atmosphere in Philadelphia, where scores of empty seats were visible on the broadcast before the AL finished off their 4-0 win.
Sometimes a baseball game just isn't exciting. That's always going to be an inherent risk. But Tuesday night didn't do itself any favors with its mid-game musical breaks, which made for an exhaustively self-serious affair. They stopped for a recording of Ray Charles's "America The Beautiful," which Jennifer Hudson had already performed in the pregame, then later broke for Boyz II Men to do “I’ll Be There” as part of Mastercard's anti-cancer ad, and still we had to sit through "God Bless America." America 250 is ostensibly a birthday party, but birthday parties are supposed to be upbeat and fun. It felt like MLB was throwing a wake. At least we'll always have the goofy incongruity of Ernie Clement, in a jersey that says "Toronto," signing a Declaration of Independence–looking document as part of the starting lineup announcements.
If you were a White Sox fan, you did get to enjoy Miguel Vargas's big solo shot in the eighth. For the Canadians, there was Dylan Cease's three-strikeout start. And the Yankee-lovers in the audience surely enjoyed the back-to-back singles from Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice that provided the AL's early lead. All of that's to say, the beauty of an all-star game is in the eye of the beholder: One person will see meaningless baseball where the starters can't wait to get subbed out so they can get on with their vacations, and another is inspired by a cool moment provided by a player they like. But the 2026 edition was simply not a compelling baseball game by any measure. Almost the entire contest was played at 3-0. There was exactly one extra-base hit. Neither team got a runner into scoring position after the third. It was an endless parade of relievers throwing stress-free innings. Unlike last year's swing-off, this game ended with Aroldis Chapman leaving the mound so Bryan Baker could come in and get the mercifully final out. Even the ASG's most ardent defenders would have struggled to stick around through that last commercial break.
I'm usually that ardent defender. I like that at least one player from every team gets a moment in the spotlight, and I like that pitchers and hitters are forced to at least give some effort, lest they embarrass themselves. It was the Ichiro inside-the-park homer that made me an all-star fan for life, teaching me that something meaningful could happen even in an exhibition. Thankfully, Caminero's HBP doesn't seem like it'll be memorable in the opposite way. But once his bruises fade, there will be little to remember at all.
