Giancarlo Stanton Becomes First MLBbro To Win All-Star Game MVP Since Prince Fielder In 2011

In his return home, Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees was the brightest star in Los Angeles on Monday night, earning the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player award and leading the American League to a 3-2 win over the National League in the 92nd edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game

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With the AL trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Stanton stepped to the plate with Jose Ramirez standing on first after a leadoff single. Facing the Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin, Stanton quickly fell behind 0-2.

Unfortunately for Gonsolin, his splitter didn’t split anything but the middle of the plate.

 

 

Stanton squared up and sent the ball on a 457-foot flight into the left field stands. Once he crossed the plate, the game was tied at two and Gonsolin was rattled. So much so, that he served up another fat one to Byron Buxton.

Buxton promptly deposited the offering 425 feet away; nearly matching Stanton’s blast.

However, when the votes were tallied, the Yankees slugger was named MVP. Stanton finished the game 1-2 with two RBI and a run scored.

Giancarlo Stanton becomes just the third Yankee to win the award, following Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (2013) and Derek Jeter (2000).

 

New York has claimed two of the five MVPs won by MLBbros since 2000, with Stanton joining Jeter, Garrett Anderson, Carl Crawford, and Prince Fielder. Fielder was the last Black player to win the award, doing so in 2011.

This year’s All-Star festivities could mark the beginning of a resurgence for Black and brown players across the league.

The energy was there among the players. They noticed and seemed poised to help push the doors to the game open even wider as a new generation of future All-Stars had their names called during the draft.

The AL’s quartet of players, led by Stanton, went a combined 3-for-8, with two home runs, two runs scored and accounting for all three American League RBI.

For Stanton, it was a dream come true. The LA-native, after a five-year absence and playing in his fifth All-Star game, placed himself into the pages of history by adding this MVP to his collection which includes the 2017 National League MVP award.

He’s also the front runner on the list of current MLB players to be the next slugger to reach the 500-homer plateau. If he, and Judge, can stay healthy, Stanton might get the opportunity to add “World Series MVP” to his resume as well.