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Players of color dominate AL lineup in MLB All-Star Game

Fred Jeter | 7/8/2021, 6 p.m.
Players of color will be front and center at next week’s Major League All-Star Game.

Players of color will be front and center at next week’s Major League All-Star Game.

Due to an injury to Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout, all nine hitters in the American League starting lineup are expected to be players of color.

Trout, a three-time league MVP, was voted onto the team by fans but will not be able to compete because of a leg injury. His spot likely will be filled by Byron Buxton, Michael Brantley or Cedric Mullins who finished fourth, fifth and sixth in balloting. All are African-American.

Here’s the way the AL lineup looks by position:

Catcher: Salvador Pérez (Kansas City Royals), age 31, from Venezuela.

First base: Vladimir Guerrero (Toronto Blue Jays), 22, born in Canada but grew up in the Dominican Republic.

Second base: Marcus Semien (Toronto Blue Jays), 30, from San Francisco.

Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts (Bos- ton Red Sox), 28, from Aruba.

Third base: Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox), 24, from the Dominican Republic.

Outfield: Aaron Judge ( New York Yankees), 29, from Linden, Calif.; Teoscar Hernández (Toronto Blue Jays), 28, from the Dominican Republic; and Buxton (Minnesota Twins), 27, from Baxley, Ga. (he is likely fill-in for Trout).

Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels), 27, from Japan. Ohtani leads MLB with 31 home runs and 67 RBIs while also posting a 3-1 pitching record with 83 strikeouts in 60 innings. There is a chance he will DH and also pitch in the All-Star game, thus becoming the first to do so. He throws right but bats left.

A galaxy of stars

What: 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game

When: Tuesday, July 13

Place: Coors Field in Denver First pitch: 7:30 p.m. Eastern

Coverage: FOX television; ESPN radio

Other Denver events: Futures Game featuring minor leaguers, July 11; Home Run Derby, July 12; and Major League Draft, July 11-13

On the National League side, the only players of color in the starting lineup will be shortstop Fernando Tatís of the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña. Tatís hails from the Dominican Republic, while Acuña is from Venezuela.

Starters were selected by fans online at MLB.com. The reserves and pitchers will be added this weekend based on fan balloting and the Commissioner’s Office.

The MLB All-Star Game was an all-white affair until 1949, when four Black players were named. They were Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and Ron Campanella, all of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians.

The All-Star MVP Award was first given in 1962. The first three MVPs were Black—Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Leon Wagner, both in 1962, and San Francisco’s Willie Mays in 1963. Mays also won the title in 1968.

There will be a Richmond fans’ favorite in the All-Star Futures Games on Aug. 11. Richmond Flying Squirrels’ outfielder Heliot Ramos will play for the National League minor-leaguers.

Ramos was the San Francisco Giants’No. 1 draft pick out of Puerto Rico in 2017. He has been with Richmond all season.

Politics played a role in this year’s MLB All-Star Game being held in Denver. Originally scheduled for Atlanta, the game was moved to Coors Field by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in response to passage of a restrictive voting rights law in Georgia.

While there are always surprises, there is ample evidence the first overall MLB draft pick July 11 in Denver will be 18-year-old shortstop Marcelo Mayer out of Eastlake High in Chula Vista, Calif. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first pick.