LOS ANGELES — The All-Star Recreation has visited 37 completely different ballparks, together with some greater than as soon as, since its final version at Dodger Stadium. Ten of these websites have been razed, and three others not host Main League Baseball video games. Chavez Ravine nonetheless glows.
That could be a part of the issue, no less than for hitters Tuesday night. The Nationwide League’s Clayton Kershaw will take the mound in his dwelling park to throw the primary pitch to the American League’s Shohei Ohtani shortly after 5 p.m. native time — prime time for East Coast viewers, and for California shadows.
“I’m not blissful concerning the shadows; I’m not blissful about dealing with Kershaw, both,” the Yankees’ Aaron Decide, who will comply with Ohtani within the batting order, mentioned with fun on Monday. “It’s robust as a result of the ball’s going from gentle to darkish, you’re attempting to select up spin — and also you don’t know if it’s a fastball at your face or if it’s going to be a slider that breaks over the plate. Particularly a man like him who has a nasty curveball and a great little cutter-slider-heater combine, it’s going to be a tricky matchup. However we’re going to placed on a present for the followers.”
The final time the present was right here, in 1980, Ken Griffey Sr. homered off Tommy John to win the sport’s Most Priceless Participant Award. That was earlier than Griffey grew to become higher referred to as the daddy of a Corridor of Famer, Ken Jr., and earlier than John’s left elbow operation went mainstream within the sport. The extra important second, although, got here in these first-inning shadows, when J.R. Richard unleashed the only biggest pitch in baseball historical past.
That distinction is totally subjective, after all. However contemplate the circumstances: No pitcher, to that time, had ever been taller than Richard, a 6-foot-8 right-hander for the Houston Astros who died final yr. He had led the majors in strikeouts in every of the 2 prior seasons, topping 300 each occasions, with a hellacious fastball and a 94 mile-an-hour slider.
And there was this: Richard stood tall within the daylight, with dwelling plate coated in shadows. He threw solely fastballs till falling behind, 3-1, in opposition to the cleanup man, the Yankees’ Reggie Jackson, who had by no means confronted him.
The subsequent pitch jackknifed down and in, jolting Don Drysdale within the ABC sales space — “one of many quickest sliders recognized to mankind,” he mentioned — and turning Jackson right into a human pretzel, twisting him into the filth as he misplaced his stability. Jackson waved at one other slider, within the filth, for strike three.
“Helpless — helpless,” Jackson mentioned lately. “It didn’t matter if he threw you a fastball, and with a slider, you simply hoped you didn’t damage your self with some sort of a wild, bizarre swing. That’s what I had. You couldn’t see the fastball due to the daylight, and the slider mainly was unhittable. Simply let me get outta right here and transfer on.”
Richard was truly attempting to train warning by working solely two innings and limiting his slider use. It was quickly clear that he by no means ought to have pitched; he’d been experiencing fatigue that may erupt in a career-ending stroke three weeks later.
Groups are infinitely extra cautious now. By league rule, pitchers who began on Sunday can not work within the All-Star Recreation, and even these with extra relaxation — like Ohtani and Houston’s Justin Verlander this yr — can decline to pitch.
However there are many dominant pitchers to go round. Main league hitters are batting a collective .242 this season, which might be the bottom for a full season in 55 years. The A.L. starter, Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays, is holding hitters to a .176 common this yr, with a significant league-low 1.71 E.R.A.
“These guys are onerous sufficient to hit already,” mentioned the N.L.’s cleanup hitter, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who leads his league in hitting at .330. “As a hitter, you’re simply attempting to simplify when it’s more durable to see, perhaps shorten your swing and attempt to do much less, as a result of your response time’s going to be minimize down and also you won’t decide up the ball fairly as early.”
As starters for baseball’s marquee summer season occasion, McClanahan and Kershaw may hardly be extra completely different. Kershaw, 34, is a nine-time All-Star who gained all three of his N.L. Cy Younger Awards earlier than McClanahan graduated highschool. McClanahan, 25, is so nameless that the A.L. supervisor, Houston’s Dusty Baker, forgot that his group had truly confronted him in a 2020 playoff sport.
“Let you know the reality, I’ve by no means seen him pitch,” Baker mentioned. “We didn’t play him in any respect this yr, however everyone that I’ve talked to advised me that he’s nasty, and so he’s my alternative.”
Kershaw, oddly, had by no means began an All-Star Recreation, handed over within the years he was energetic for Roy Halladay, Matt Cain, Matt Harvey, Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu. Kershaw has made solely 12 begins this season, however in two of them he was good by means of seven innings. He’s 7-2 with a 2.13 E.R.A.
“Thanks for letting me begin this factor,” Kershaw mentioned at a information convention on Monday, gesturing to the N.L. supervisor, Brian Snitker of Atlanta. “It’s onerous, as a result of clearly Sandy Alcantara, Tony Gonsolin, Max Fried, all these guys have higher numbers than I do and they need to be beginning this sport and I get that.
“However all that to say, I’m simply so excited I get to do it right here at Dodger Stadium. I actually didn’t suppose something of it on the time; I used to be like, ‘Effectively, yeah, it will be enjoyable to do it or no matter’ — however now that it’s lastly right here and I get to begin that sport tomorrow night time, it simply means loads.”
Kershaw added that he merely hoped to not mess it up too badly, however he ought to know higher. A twilight begin for the premier pitcher of this technology and a rising star within the A.L.? What’s a poor hitter to do?
“Hope for a cloudy day tomorrow,” Goldschmidt mentioned.