Plot Synopsis

Each year in mid-July, Major League Baseball's best players -- as determined by fan votes as well as manager selections -- come together so the National League All-Stars can battle the American League All-Stars. This exhibition game has long financed the players' pension fund, but the importance of the ALL-STAR GAME increased, starting in 2003, since the winner of the Midsummer Classic now secures home field advantage for that league in the World Series. In 1949, the ALL-STAR GAME was first broadcast, with Red Barber as the announcer and CBS showing the game to approximately 19 stations in the Midwest and along the East Coast. The following year, the ALL-STAR GAME had its first national broadcast, with Jack Brickhouse and NBC providing nationwide coverage. NBC aired the ALL-STAR GAME for 26 years, until 1976 when ABC and NBC alternated as the broadcast network for 14 years. In 1990, CBS telecast the game for four straight years, followed by a seven-year period during which NBC alternated annual broadcasts with ABC and then FOX. Since 2001, FOX has been the television home of the Midsummer Classic. There was no 2020 ALL-STAR GAME during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The 2023 ALL-STAR GAME was hosted by T-Mobile Park in Seattle, WA on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, with Zac Gallen and Gerrit Cole the scheduled starting pitchers for the National and American League teams, respectively. FOX began its live coverage of the 93rd Major League All-Star Game at 8pm ET/5pm PT, with Joe Davis calling his second All-Star Game. John Smoltz returns for his seventh game. The duo were joined by MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal and broadcaster Tom Verducci, providing exclusive inside information and in-game reports.

The game is immediately preceded by a one-hour pregame show on local FOX stations at 7pm ET/4pm PT, with host Kevin Burkhardt alongside analysts Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz. The pregame show includes a feature on 2001 All-Star Game MVP Cal Ripken which revisits his memorable, final Midsummer Classic (Seattle) plus a voiceover from Grammy Award-winning Seattle native Macklemore. Plus, Tom Rinaldi and several legendary baseball names share what makes Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani one of the sport's greatest players.