Giancarlo Stanton voted 2022 MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
Hometown hero Giancarlo Stanton won the All-Star Game MVP in the same stadium where he used to watch Los Angeles Dodgers games growing up.
Giancarlo Stanton had a night to remember in the City of Angles helping the America League beat the National League 3-2 in a pitching showdown. Stanton was named MVP of the All-Star Game going 1-2 with a home run and two RBIs in a place he knows well.
LA kid is MVP of All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium
The Yankees center fielder was born right outside of Los Angeles, in Panorma City, California and shined when the lights were brightest on Tuesday night. He went to Notre Dame High School which is 12 miles away from Dodger Stadium.
As a kid he used to go to Dodgers game with his dad. They would hang outside the stadium, scalp tickets and usually sit in the left field bleachers, which is where his fourth inning home run landed to tie the game up at 2-2.
“I would sit in left field and try to scalp tickets, whatever we could afford,” he said. “To hit one out there is amazing.
Stanton and Buxton go back-to-back
The NL went up in the opening inning after an RBI single by Mookie Betts, and a solo jack from St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The AL had to wait until the fourth inning to get their bats warmed up, but once they did the runs came in a hurry. Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez singled to right field to start the inning, and after Vald Guerrero Jr. flied out to center, it was Stanton’s turn to take the box. He cranked a 457 foot homer right into the bleachers he and his dad used to sit two decades ago.
Bryon Buxton stepped to the plate after Stanton tied the game up at 2-2 and went yard for back-to-back jacks to give the AL the lead for the first time in the game. The total distance of both home runs was a monstrous 882 feet.
AL makes it nine out of nine
The AL’s pitching regathered after the slow start in the first. After Shane McClanahan gave up four hits and two runs to open the game, the AL’s pitching started to roll. The rotation didn’t allow a single hit until the 8th inning as Austin Riley singled to right, but that would be the final hit of the NL’s night. Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase struck out the side in the ninth inning to secure the AL’s ninth win in their last nine.
Stanton told reporters after the game he had about 50 tickets to the All-Star Game for friends and family in the area. He did not disappoint under the spot light of the Mid Summer Classic.