Recapping a Historic 2025 MLB All-Star Game

We all love the MLB All-Star Game, don't we? Baseball's game seems to stand out over the other leagues in many ways. For one, MLB is the only league whose All-Star Game takes place on a weeknight; the other three leagues have their games on the weekend--either on Saturday or Sunday. Secondly, MLB's All-Star Game is the only one out of the main four where the players wear their team uniforms, and as much as I love All-Star gear, it is nice to see that mixture of team uniforms and colors out there. And third, it's the only game that hasn't really changed formats, it's been American League vs National League forever.

Regarding this year, it was Atlanta's turn to host the game, and the city had quite an amazing stretch, hosting NXT's Great American Bash and Saturday Night's Main Event this past Saturday, and hosting WWE's Evolution this past Sunday. Prior to the game, the yearly Home Run Derby took place on Monday, and this year, it was Cal Raleigh--the Seattle Mariners' power hitting catcher--who won the contest; the first catcher to ever win the Derby. Even that had some WWE flair, as Cody Rhodes presented a Home Run Derby championship belt.

The game took place on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, and I had a feeling this would be an epic show. Boy, was that an understatement!

Per tradition, the All-Star Game managers are the same skippers from the previous year's World Series. Regarding this year, the American League was managed by Aaron Boone (New York Yankees) for the first time, while Dave Roberts (Los Angeles Dodgers) managed the National League for the fourth time, having previously done so in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The starting pitchers were Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers), and while Skenes had a perfect first inning, Skubal didn't fare so well. The National League struck early with a two-run double from Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks), driving in Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Ronald Acuña, Jr. (Atlanta Braves).

The 2-0 score held up for innings until the NL added on to it. Pete Alonso (New York Mets) entered in the six and struck with a three-run homer, and afterwards, Corbin Carroll (Arizona Diamondbacks) hit a homer of his own. So after six innings, the Senior Circuit was up 6-0, with all six runs driven in by two Diamondbacks and a Met.

After the sixth inning ended, we were treated to a tribute to the late, great, iconic Hank Aaron, mainly the night where he became part of baseball immortality. April 8, 1974--that was the day that Aaron hit his 715th career home run, eclipsing Babe Ruth on the all-time career home run list. Aaron went on to finish his career with 755 home runs, a number that stood as the overall top number until August 8, 2007. It's amazing. If you take away all 755 of Hank Aaron's home runs, he still would have finished with just over 3,000 hits, an absolutely iconic fact.

Back to the game at hand, it was down to the latter one-third, and the American League--the Junior Circuit--was down 6-0. Yes, the All-Star Game is an exhibition, but it's a high level exhibition. The players want to win this. Alejandro Kirk (Toronto Blue Jays) and Jonathan Aranda (Tampa Bay Rays) got on with back-to-back singles, and then, Brent Rooker (Athletics) struck with a three-run shot. Very huge moment! The shutout was gone, and the AL's deficit was cut in half in one fell swoop. Bobby Witt, Jr. (Kansas City Royals) added to the inning wih a groundout that drove in his Royals teammate, Maikel Garcia, and while the AL still trailed, the four-run seventh turned this into a game.

Ninth inning. Last chance for the American League. Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins)--who has hit well in ASGs before--doubled, and it was followed by Witt driving in Buxton with a double of his own. It was 6-5 now! With one out, Jazz Chisholm, Jr. (New York Yankees) came up to bat, but he ended up narrowly grounding out, though Witt advanced to third. The AL's last chance was Steven Kwan (Cleveland Guardians), and with the team down to their final strike, Kwan hits this slow grounder, and as soon as it was hit, I knew Kwan would beat it out. Kwan's the speedster of the Guardians, and he successfully made it to first while Witt crossed the plate. After being down 6-0, the American League fought back to tie it up, with both runs charged to San Diego Padres' closer Robert Suarez, who was replaced by Mets' closer Edwin Diaz for the rest of the inning. Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox) pitched a shutout ninth, and after regulation, the game remained tied.

I expected extra innings, but I actually forgot that MLB actually changed things up regarding extra time in the ASG. In 2022, MLB announced that in place of extra innings, the All-Star Game will be decided via a Home Run Swing-Off, a mini HR Derby of sorts. Basically, it's the baseball equivalent of the shootout in the NHL, or penalty kicks in soccer. The rules were simple: each side would send three batters to the plate, and each batter will have three swings, and the teams will alternate. The team with the most HRs wins it. For the American League, Boone selected Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena (Seattle Mariners), and Jonathan Aranda (Tampa Bay Rays). For the National League, Roberts selected Kyle Stowers (Miami Marlins), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), and Pete Alonso.

First round was Rooker vs Stowers, and two of Rooker's three swings went yard. It was 2-1 AL after Round 1. Round 2 saw Arozarena go yard once, but Schwarber connected on all three swings. The Naional League led 4-3, and it was up to Aranda to get it done. However, none of Aranda's swings left the park, and that was that. Alonso didn't need to step in, the National League won the first-ever Home Run Swing-Off, 4-3, and thus, the Senior Circuit won this year's All-Star Game.

Kyle Schwarber named as the MVP of this year's All-Star Game for his performance in the Swing-Off, the first Phillies player to win ASG MVP since 1964. Officially, the result goes down as a game that ended 6-6 in regulation, with the National League winning the Swing-Off, 4-3, to win the whole game. This is only the NL's fifth win in the last 28 All-Star Games played; overall, the AL leads 48-45-2. This was the 14th ASG to play beyond nine innings, and following the infamous 2002 tie in Milwaukee, this was the fourth ASG to go past regulation--and the first since 2018.

I absolutely loved this year's ASG; it was absolutely epic. We bore witness to an actual comeback; the American League trailed 6-0 entering the final one-third of regulation, yet bounced back to tie it up. I had forgotten about the Swing-Off being a thing, because most of the ASGs don't play past nine innings. Only 15% of the All-Star Games needed extra time. The Swing-Off was amazing as hell, it was a spectacular addition to the ASG. There were concerns because there was never announced plan for what would happen if it was still tied after three rounds, but I would think it would have continued on afterwards.

If Kyle Schwarber becomes an All-Star next year, he'll get to play in front of his home crowd. Next year's All-Star game will take place on July 14, 2026 in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. The last time the ASG hit Philadelphia was back in 1996, and it was the old Veterans Stadium back them. It was the National League's last win until 2010, and the winning pitcher from that evening will be calling next year's game on Fox: John Smoltz. I do love the MLB All-Star Game, it always manages to top itself every year, and this year was no different. It'll probably be a while before we see another Home Run Swing-Off in the ASG, but even so, the Midsummer Classic is an absolutely iconic event, and always will be.