MIAMI – In a weird way, Pat Neshek's 4-month-old son, Hoyt, might have been partly responsible for making Madison Bumgarner's Game 7 heroics necessary in the 2014 World Series. And the reliever isn't really comfortable with that.
Neshek, the Brooklyn Park native and Phillies All-Star representative this year, recalls the 2014 All-Star Game at Target Field as a crazy, whirlwind couple of days, filled with MLB-planned events, family-reunion dinners and a fussy infant.
"You show up, especially at home, and it's kind of like a big party. There was so much stuff, I probably got an hour of sleep the night before," recalled Neshek, who represented the Cardinals that season. "Then I go out there during the game and get the loss. And that's how home field for the World Series is decided? It was crazy."
That used to be how it worked, and the RBI double a sleep-deprived Neshek gave up to Mike Trout — "It was a foul ball," he says of Trout's chopper down the third-base line in the fifth inning — meant the Giants, behind Bumgarner's five-inning relief stint on two days' rest, had to win Game 7 on the road in Kansas City almost four months later.
The players asked during last year's collective bargaining negotiations that the policy be changed. Tuesday's was the first All-Star Game since 2003 that didn't have an effect on the postseason — home-field advantage will go to the team with the best record — and you could sense relief among the All-Stars.
"I'm glad they changed it. It never seemed fair," said the Twins' Brandon Kintzler. "Teams work hard all year to get an advantage over the others, and for people who aren't even in the playoffs to determine that, it just isn't right."
Sano getting noticed
Miguel Sano was one of the most popular players during Tuesday's All-Star parade through downtown Miami, a reflection that his strong season — or more likely, his runner-up finish in Monday's Home Run Derby — had made him some new fans. It's about time the Twins slugger got more attention, one of his teammates said.
"I definitely think it changed a lot last night," said Kintzler, who rode on the back of the same truck as Sano. "… In the markets that we're in, you've got to be in the playoffs to share the big stage. The more winning we do, the more we'll get to show that he's going to be a superstar."