Sam Mellinger: Please let this be the new normal for baseball’s All-Star game

The most telling moment of baseball’s 88th All-Star game could only be appreciated by a select few in the television broadcast and a handful of others privy to a hot mic and in-between-innings feed heard in certain parts of this strange and glorious ballpark.

Bryce Harper was doing a mic check for a live interview while preparing to play right field before the top of the fourth, and, yes, let’s all acknowledge the 2017-ness of this scene.

“I won’t keep you the whole inning,” Fox broadcaster Joe Buck said as Harper warmed up.

“Oh, keep me as long as you want,” the outfielder replied. “I’m bored.”

The American League won this game 2-1 in 10 innings Tuesday, and that will be saved and put on web pages for history’s sake, but for a lot of reasons this was the first All-Star game of its kind and the exchange and interview with Buck and Harper that included talk about the Cowboys quarterback is illustrative of what baseball’s signature midseason showcase is now and what it can be.

Here is one of baseball’s greatest stars doing the type of interview that would only be allowed with baseball stripping away pretense and making its All-Star game a pure exhibition again after 14 years of deciding home-field advantage in the World Series.

And Harper didn’t play like he was bored, by the way, not during a diving catch on Royals catcher Salvador Perez’s soft liner in the second that was one of the game’s better moments.

“Good for him,” Perez said after. “I was glad he caught it. That was a good play for him.”

But when — if? — we remember this All-Star game it is less likely to be for Harper’s catch or Robinson Cano’s winning homer than for these between-pitches interviews and Nelson Cruz pausing before his plate appearance in the sixth inning for a picture with umpire Joe West.

After the picture — it turned out good, Cruz said — he put his phone in his back pocket and flew out to center. This is exactly the kind of game it was and, when you think about it, exactly what the All-Star game should be.

“I had it on silent in case anyone called,” Cruz said. “And I have insurance, so … ”

Please, lordy, let this be baseball allowing more fun and personality into its game. This sport is tremendous, for a lot of reasons, but at the highest level remains dictated by a culture more appropriate for the library than a game.

And toward that point, it’s hard not to notice that Harper’s hair flip after his diving catch was one of social media’s favorite moments even if it was left out of the highlight posted to MLB’s official Twitter account.

But maybe someday we’ll remember this week as the powers of Major League Baseball beginning to better promote their game in the modern age. Commissioner Rob Manfred and players union chief Tony Clark have both expressed a desire to better promote a long list of young stars, and neither can complain about a lack of opportunity.

The Home Run Derby, particularly the parts with Yankees rookie Aaron Judge, will be remembered for years. And as the game transitions back to a pure exhibition, it is being treated proportionately.

Alex Rodriguez, orange-vested cameraman in tow, interviewed the left side of the National League infield as they warmed up before the second inning. George Springer joined Harper in doing live, between-pitches interviews while playing the outfield.

“Soon as I saw them doing those interviews,” Cruz said. “I thought, ‘OK, this (picture) shouldn’t be an issue.”

The picture was taken by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who wore all-gold gear, ostensibly a reference to his eight Gold Gloves, but in practice made him look a little like C-3PO.

For baseball, the best part is the fun didn’t get in the way of the ball. The commissioner’s office has always been worried about its game turning into the other sports’ All-Star games — each of them played with all the competitiveness of a walk to the ice cream parlor.

That’s why Bud Selig, Manfred’s predecessor, came up with the “This Time It Counts” thing, to reverse a culture in which guys didn’t want to show up and were on private planes by the eighth inning.

The first year in, at least, that doesn’t seem to be a problem here.

“We played to compete, that’s what we do,” said Perez, in his fifth All-Star game. “We know before the game it doesn’t count anymore, but we still play hard.”

American League starter Chris Sale was throwing hard enough to make Red Sox fans nervous — he reached 100 mph for the first time since 2010, when he was a rookie reliever.

Max Scherzer, the former Mizzou star and National League’s starting pitcher, appeared to be seeking not just outs but submissions, his trademark snarl and eye-murder broadcast in high definition to a national audience.

Harper’s diving catch, Nolan Arenado trying to tag up on a fly ball to center, and being thrown out by a strong throw from the alert Mookie Betts. Judge swung as hard as he did during the derby. Perez even took a foul tip off his body, which any Royals fan will tell you happens in most competitive baseball games.

When Cano hit what proved to be the winning home run in the 10th, he came back to the dugout to what looked a little like a dance line at a nightclub, Cano feted with towel fans and back rubs like a conquering and merciless king.

This was, combined with the Derby, consecutive nights of baseball in its best form: jaw-dropping, fun, intense, and memorable, with a touch of personality where it fit.

For most of the last generation, baseball has struggled with what to do with this game. Free agency and other factors took away some of the Rose-over-Fosse intensity, and eventually it became too loose, and then the novelty with home-field advantage in the World Series wore off.

This is just one year in, but for a night, baseball found the right balance for a stand-alone showcase that can be part of better promotion and growth going forward.

This story was originally published July 12, 2017 at 12:15 AM with the headline "Sam Mellinger: Please let this be the new normal for baseball’s All-Star game."