Reddit conspiracy theorists want to rob Kyle Schwarber of his All-Star Game MVP

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game ended in unprecedented fashion — with an extra innings home run swing-off, rather than an actual 10th inning, to determine the winner after the ninth inning concluded in a dead heat. The National League and American League both sent out three All-Stars to get three swings each against the hitting coach. The results were... dramatic.

Kyle Schwarber was the hero of the evening. The Philadelphia Phillies DH went a cool 3-for-3 and ultimately won the swing-off and the game for the NL. He was thus rewarded with All-Star Game MVP, which feels like an appropriate recognition for one of the coolest feats this game (and sport) has seen in a while.

And yet, because we cannot have nice things on this mortal coil, some MLB fans are determined to detract from Schwarber's MVP award. Probably, if I had to posit a theory, disgruntled New York Mets fans who feel like Pete Alonso was robbed after his three-run bomb off of Kris Bubic in the sixth inning.

Alas, it's true. The Reddit conspiracists are out in full force and demanding answers to a seemingly coincidental change to the MLB All-Star Game rulebook.

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Reddit believes Kyle Schwarber should give the ASG MVP award to Pete Alonso

Water_is_wet05, one of our great modern thinkers, took to Reddit with strong evidence that Schwarber was unfairly awarded the ASG Most Valuable Player award based on past articles written on MLB.com.

"On July 19, 2022, Anthony Castrovince wrote an article for MLB.com about the new extra-inning derby rule for the all-star game," they write. "The article, as it was originally written, can be seen here, courtesy of the Wayback Machine."

A notable excerpt from that article back in 2022: "Additionally, the All-Star Game MVP Award would be based on what happened in the nine-inning game."

Hmmmm!!

Allegedly, the article was updated in the immediate aftermath of the All-Star Game to remove that clause and any evidence that Schwarber, the hero of the evening and the sole reason the NL won, was actually ineligible for the MVP award based on a technicality.

"Notice anything missing? And yes, this WAS removed today, because, coincidentally, the page was saved earlier just yesterday by the Wayback Machine, and it's STILL THERE," writes Mr. Wet.

This is all very compelling. But it begs the question... who actually cares?

Did Kyle Schwarber actually deserve to win the ASG MVP?

The answer to the above question is yes. Maybe in the original rulebook, the answer was 'no.' But c'mon, how can we earnestly look at the results of last night and come to any other conclusion? After Jonathan Aranda went 0-for-3 in the next round, the National League didn't even need to trot out its third slugger. Schwarber took the National League from a 1-3 hole to a 4-3 victory with three glorious cracks of the bat.

Sure, it's basically glorified batting practice, but if it was easy, Schwarber wouldn't have so dramatically cleared the rest of the field. When we think back on the 2025 All-Star Game years from now, our first thought will be of Schwarber's trio of moonshots. This is the lasting moment from a game that otherwise has very little material value in terms of the broader MLB season.

So yeah. Schwarber deserved MVP. Heck, if the MLB rewrote the rulebook overnight to allow it, that's good. We should be that quick about changing some other antiquated rules and systems, if you ask me.

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