When the MLB All-Star Game stopped being used to determine homefield advantage in the World Series and returned to its rightful role as an exhibition game, it allowed Fox Sports to really experiment with the broadcast.
And honestly, a lot of it has worked. The mic’d-up players with live conversations have been great. But the enhanced camera angles have really made the viewing experience more enjoyable. There’s no better example of that than what we saw from Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run home run in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.
With Tony Gonsolin on the mound, Stanton crushed a 457-foot home run to left field. And in the subsequent replays, we saw that Stanton literally squished the baseball with his bat. Take a look:
STANTON SMASH OH MY WORD 😱
This game is tied! pic.twitter.com/E7QXMqkJ2x
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 20, 2022
I mean, how?!
A: He's not even looking at the ball
B: LOOK AT THE COMPRESSION pic.twitter.com/ZrTraX35uK— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 20, 2022
While reaction times would make it nearly impossible for anyone to look at the baseball at the point of contact, it’s impossible to overlook the compression of that ball in the photo. He crushed it. It was the hardest-hit All-Star Game home run in the Statcast era.
Last night, @Giancarlo818 smashed the hardest-hit HR in an #AllStarGame in the Statcast era (since 2015).
(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/0AQd5sfGuK
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2022
And, of course, fans could not get enough of that photo.
