Vladimir Guerrero Jr makes his way into the spotlight with the best All-Star player

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Denver – From the moment he was born in 1999, the year his dad was named an All-Star for the first time, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the center of attention. When he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays at the age of 16, the lights caught on even brighter.

“There was some hype around it, purely in name,” said Liam Hendrix close to the Chicago White Sox, who played for Toronto when Guerrero turned pro. “And then he came in and took the batting practice – and at 16, that was something special.”

On Tuesday night at Coors Stadium, Guerrero went from prodigy to full-blown star. With a towering Homer and scoring engineer, Guerrero won an award that eluded his father, Hall of Fame: Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game.

The American League won 5-2 with its eighth straight win and ranked 20th in its last 24 All-Star games. The night was world-class: winning bowler Shohei Ohtani of Japan’s Los Angeles Angels; Hendrix, who made the save, Australian; Guerrero is from Dominican by way of Canada, where he was born while his father was playing at the Montreal Expos.

“We are now looking at a global game,” Hendricks said, adding later, “Shuhei is a walking billboard that we hope will attract more Japanese players to come early.”

Several veterans refused to attend this year’s event despite being healthy enough to play for their teams: Houston Astros’ Jose Altov, Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mocky Beets, Mets’ Jacob Degrom and others. Against this backdrop, Ohtani has emerged as a particularly good sport, eagerly participating in the Home Run Derby on Monday, then serving as AL’s starting captain and designated hitter on Tuesday.

He led the game with a floor to second – NL played in alternation, even in a fair – and then retired by the side in order at the bottom of the first on a trip out and two off the ground. Ohtani took another racket, sprinted to first base, and finally relaxed.

“It definitely was more stressful compared to the regular season,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, but if everyone is having fun, I’m totally fine,” adding later, “If more people watch baseball, it makes me happy. That’s good for the sport.”

Ahtani did not win any awards, did not register a strike, and did not make it to the base. But he hit a 500-foot volley in the Home Run Derby and threw the ball 100 mph into the game, an amazing combination of skill.

“It’s out of this world,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “It’s not from here. It’s unbelievable, and I don’t even know what to say. The pitch, the beating, it’s incredible.”

Guerrero has had a charming season of his own, leading the bigs on average (.332), base percentage (.430) and hitting at (73), to go with 28 homers. He and Otani were a record 42 all-star firsts here, and after a prior honoring of Hank Aaron—whose widow Billy was escorted to the field by Aaron Judge and Freddy Freeman—the game heralded a future led by players like Guerrero and Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto, all of whom are only 22 years old.

“The thing is they’re very emotional, but very curious,” said Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, who ran the NL team. “They are what this game is about and what this game is going to be in the next decade. For me, as a guy who has been around for a short time, you have to accept that. That young energy is fantastic.”

Guerrero’s night could have taken a darker turn at the top of the first, when he hit a ball past Max Scherzer’s head. Second baseman Adam Frazier sent her and kicked Guerrero, who then wrapped Scherzer in a hug. On Monday, Scherzer asked Guerrero to go easy on him.

“I’m alive and not hit by the ball – that’s my success story,” Scherzer told reporters, adding, “I’m grateful to still have a blue eye and a brown eye.”

Guerrero pointed to the sky after landing in the third turn, landing deep in the field stands in the center left from a slide suspended from Corbin Burnes of Milwaukee, who took the loss. Guerrero told some of his Blue Jays teammates that he would win the MVP award, but they could have expected it anyway.

“When he hit her, it was kind of like, ‘She’s been there, we’ve been waiting for her,’” said the short-lived Blue Jays Bu Bechet. “And then how far it has come, that’s not really surprising either. It is amazing. Big stages, he always does.”

There were more highlights to follow – Guerrero’s RBI’s fifth-place finish increased the AL’s lead to 3-0; Mike Zunino of Rays dug an opposite field from the second floor on the sixth floor; And Angels Jared Walsh, who played left field for the first time in majors, grabbed a slider to finish eighth with bases loaded.

But MVP was Guerrero all the way through, a fitting cover for the player who got the most votes from fans. The kid who joined his father in the All-Star Game is now the youngest player in the game’s history.

“Dreams come true,” Guerrero said. “Since I was a kid I have been thinking about this moment; I have worked my whole life, hard. Thank God this is happening now.”

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