Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 691 30: A Different All-Star Weekend

Compared to Nippon Professional Baseball, which simply gathers star players from various teams to play a few games and call it a day, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game operation is more mature, more commercialized, and also shows more humanity.

Selected players are not only required to participate in the final day's main event but also have to complete a series of "tasks" such as Media Day, charity events, and Red Carpet Day. As star players voted in by fans, they have the responsibility and duty to give back to the fans and contribute to the promotion of baseball.

Take Media Day as an example, Major League Baseball officials have set up small booths with players' names in a venue, and anyone with a credential, whether from professional media like ESPN, Fox, YouTube baseball bloggers, or even some VIP ticket holder fans, are eligible to have face-to-face dialogues with their favorite stars.

Under the heavy promotion by MLB and its official sponsors, today's Media Day attracted quite a crowd.

Like superstar players at their peak such as Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout, and hometown stars Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna, the crowds outside their booths were packed so tight that not even an ant could get through.

Unexpectedly for Lin Guanglai himself, his booth also attracted a lot of people, including over 50 professional media outlets from North America and Asia, and plenty of YouTube vloggers with their own filming equipment.

The questions they asked were bizarre and varied, ranging from serious questions related to the Major League, and the All-Star Game to his life in the United States, his feelings about Miami, and eventually some highly controversial topics, getting more and more outrageous.

It was Lin Guanglai's first experience witnessing the full-fledged prowess of American journalists, only until now did he realize how restrained they had been during pre-game and post-game interviews.

"Lin, how does it feel to participate in the All-Star Game for the first time?"

"Lin, regarding the perfect game and the Yankees' performance in the first half of the season, what do you think?"

"Lin, I heard you liked Miami's weather in previous interviews, have you considered playing in Miami in the future?"

"Lin, about your love life…"

"Lin…"

Honestly, since becoming famous all over Japan during his college years, being interviewed has been almost a common affair for Lin Guanglai over the years; but even so, facing this pack of voracious media made it difficult for him to handle, often having to use convoluted language to navigate controversial topics.

"Perhaps in the future, I should say my English isn't proficient and find a Mandarin or Japanese translator to help me speak?" This thought briefly appeared in Lin Guanglai's mind but was quickly dismissed.

"Hahahaha, though the North American media is indeed quite pesky, it's actually the first time I've seen you so awkward; it's hilarious, hahaha—"

Having finished his interview early, Bryce Harper with nothing better to do, came over to Lin Guanglai's booth and almost entirely witnessed the ordeal he endured at the hands of the media; and after the interview segment ended, he mercilessly mocked Lin Guanglai right in front of him.

In contrast to Lin Guanglai's media image as a "gentleman," Harper has always been cast in the "bad boy" persona since his debut, with a relatively tough attitude toward the media. Due to his explosive temper, he often ends up creating big headlines, making him a typical American white guy whom the media love and hate but love more.

Actually, Lin Guanglai sometimes doesn't want to deal with so much media, but handling media relations is a necessary aspect every baseball player must prioritize, especially for those whose stats are stellar and have a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Because it is in the hands of veteran journalists that they hold the power to decide the life or death of a decorated player's eligibility for Cooperstown.

Unlike the basketball Hall of Fame where almost any star player can be inducted, the difficulty to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is significantly larger: only those who receive over 75% of the votes from the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America are eligible to become part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Among retired players, figures like Barry Bonds, the home run king, and Roger Clemens, who won seven Cy Young Awards in his career, are forever without hope due to poor media images and controversies surrounding drug use; Curt Schilling, the "bloody sock" winner by nature, is also barred due to his big mouth.

To win over the critical journalists, aside from excellent performance on the field, players must have a good moral standard and diligently cultivate a positive media image. Any controversial behavior on or off the field could permanently sever a player's path to Cooperstown — this is why many fans refer to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the "Saint's Hall."

Seizing the opportunity at the All-Star Game, Lin Guanglai met many other team's star players and through his enthusiastic personality, established connections with everyone:

Including this year's All-Star Game catcher partner, Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez, Rockies' star player and one of the league's best third basemen Nolan Arenado, and Dodgers' "prince," the top favorite for this year's National League rookie Cody Bellinger.