MLB All-Star Game: Stars Trade Tips Ahead of Game
The All-Star Game is baseball’s ultimate learning lab: the best of the best, teammates for a moment, swapping stories and secrets. The days of Bob Gibson snarling through the festivities, impervious to camaraderie with enemies turned teammates, are gone.
“You can always learn from anyone, especially being surrounded by masterminds of baseball who’ve been doing this for a long time,” said Minnesota Twins pitcher Pablo López, a first-time All-Star. “I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can.”
López is not alone. The All-Star Game — scheduled for Tuesday at the home of the Seattle Mariners — was once the setting for Roy Halladay learning a cutter grip from Mariano Rivera. Halladay traced his fingers on a ball that day, in 2008, and kept it with him for the rest of his career. It wound up in his display case at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Rivera, the hallowed Yankees closer, did not seek advice from others, believing that pitch grips were unique to an individual’s physiology. He was more of a shaman, a possessor of wisdom who inspired teammates by his mere presence.
Source: The New York Times
