Sometimes Twitter fingers get the job done. Brent Rooker might have come up short in the MLB All-Star Game’s first home run swing off, but he had one more dinger left in him for ESPN’s Jeff Passan. After the All-Star Game concluded, Passan took to the X platform to say that instead of Rooker, Jonathan Aranda and Randy Arozarena duking it out against Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Stowers it should have been more household names.
He alluded to the AL representatives being Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cal Raleigh and the NL representatives being Shohei Ohtani, Alonso and Schwarber. While I get the point he’s trying to make, I think this misses the point of the All-Star Game.
Am I not good enough for you Jeff https://t.co/IRcQWLMbda
— Brent Rooker (@Brent_Rooker25) July 16, 2025
The All-Star Game is all about fun, a lowkey setting and getting everyone a chance to shine. It’s also a chance to watch players we otherwise wouldn’t get to see or hear about. That’s why I respect the respective AL and NL managers for mixing in some lesser known players for the swing off.
The MLB All-Star Game home run swing off proved why it has value in the All-Star Game
What if Rooker has been the reason the AL won the All-Star Game in the swing-off? Would Passan still have tweeted on the X platform that it should have been Judge, Raleigh or Vladdy competing? Probably not. That’s why the new extra innings format, which has been in effect since 2022, but hasn’t been triggered until this year, is such a great addition.
Players that fall in the shadows of the stars of the league get a chance to have their 15 minutes of fame. Sometimes you can’t avoid the chance to have the big names compete, but to give someone else the spotlight that’s competing in the All-Star Game is sometimes worth it.
The MLB All-Star Game is losing its luster. Many players opted out of this year’s game and this was just one way to bring back the excitement. More than anything, while it’s still a game and players want to win, nobody wins when there’s overstrategy used in an exhibition game.
While I agree with Passan that having the biggest names compete in a showdown would be fun, sometimes it’s OK to switch things up. Giving Rooker a chance to be the star of the All-Star Game was worth it, even if it didn’t pan out necessarily. Maybe with the excitement of this year’s swing-off it’s something that can generate excitement for next year’s game. Maybe we’ll get a new name be the star of the All-Star Game swing-off.