New face (or faces) of MLB can emerge at All-Star Game
After turning last summer's most-watched baseball game into his personal showcase -- double, triple, athleticism leaping through your television -- Mike Trout accepted the 2014 All-Star Game MVP award and picked out a shiny new Corvette. And as he stood in the center of the diamond at Target Field, in an interview on FOX, the best player on the planet declared that the evening belonged to . . . someone else.
"It's pretty special," Trout told Erin Andrews, "just to be a part of his night."
His night, of course, was a reference to Derek Jeter, whose 14th and final All-Star appearance was (rightly) the evening's dominant storyline. Jeter's peers gladly deflected every last photon of the spotlight toward him . . . just as the 2013 All-Stars had done for Mariano Rivera the season before.
Now -- with apologies to Alex Rodriguez -- we've run out of fortysomething Yankees legends to canonize at the Midsummer Classic. One wonders if the media will gather in Cincinnati and gaze glumly upon our shoe tops, unsure of where to direct the hosannas.
Fear not: We're about to witness the first All-Star Game of a new generation.
If the last two All-Star Games were meant to celebrate the past, this one is dedicated to the future -- an essential pivot for our national pastime, as those charged with caring for its future freely acknowledge the need to better engage with young fans.
Rivera and Jeter have retired. Rodriguez -- an enduring fascination, for reasons good and ill -- is about to turn 40. Baseball must identify a new group of superstars, with potential to be popular outside their home markets because of how spectacularly they play and the style with which they do it.
The Midsummer Classic, with millions of viewers around the world watching the same baseball game, is a good place to start.
Trout, widely judged to be the majors' best all-around player, is a natural candidate. Only 23, he's making his fourth All-Star appearance. He has the all-American backstory: multi-sport hero from the middle-class New Jersey town. He is unfailingly modest. At one point during an interview last month, he told me that he feels "happy to be up in the big leagues."
He meant it, too.
What's a baseball marketing executive to do, when there's nary a self-promotional stitch on the bill of the best player's cap?
The debate over whom will succeed Jeter as the "face of baseball" isn't particularly edifying -- largely because the present answer is "no one." Jeter's big-city presence, championship pedigree, and personal magnetism are unmatched among all active players.
It may be that -- at least until Trout wins a World Series ring or two, while letting more of his personality into the public view -- the coming era won't have a single dominant persona. That actually could work to MLB's benefit, if American fans see enough of the right players -- in the right settings -- to develop enduring emotional bonds with them.
Andrew McCutchen, for example, ought to be at the forefront of as many MLB marketing efforts as possible. He's an MVP who plays the game with passion, style, and a sense of the moment -- as he illustrated once more on Saturday night, with a walk-off home run in the 14th inning of his Pittsburgh Pirates' epic victory over the division rival St. Louis Cardinals.
Of equal importance, McCutchen gets it. The 28-year-old published a thought-provoking essay at The Players' Tribune before the season, in which he shared personal perspective on the obstacles for low-income children to become involved in baseball. Earlier this year, he gave his batting gloves to two young Pirates fans after a game in San Diego in a genuine moment that went viral. He even helped hold down the tarp at PNC Park after it ensnared a member of the grounds crew during a recent rain delay.
In short, McCutchen has the depth and dynamism we want to see in our superstar athletes. He's at ease in front of a camera. He tweets. He has proven that it's possible to play like a throwback -- which he does, in many ways -- while showing personality and emotion. He's precisely what baseball needs.
And Tuesday night, you will see him starting in the outfield for the National League.
With any luck, Trout, McCutchen or Bryce Harper will do something extraordinary in the All-Star Game -- while displaying their individuality in a way that intrigues the young demographic MLB desperately needs to cultivate. Or perhaps the stage will belong to an emerging big-market rookie, like the Cubs' Kris Bryant or Dodgers' Joc Pederson. Maybe -- in the best-case scenario -- more than one star will take an indelible turn.
Yes, the All-Star Game matters for home-field advantage in the World Series, but there's something even more important at stake -- the strength of our national pastime's grip on American fans for the next generation. MLB used its last two summer showpieces to honor its past, and that was fine. Now it's time to take care of the future.
