Stark: Who is the ‘Face of Baseball’ in 2013? Should anyone be?
From SABR member Jayson Stark at ESPN.com on July 16, 2013:
On Tuesday night, under the New York stars, the greatest players in baseball will assemble on one field. So it’s the perfect night to ask yourself a question we’ve been pondering for months:
Which of these guys is now the Face of Baseball?
Is it Mike Trout? Miguel Cabrera? Bryce Harper? Buster Posey?
Is it David Ortiz? Justin Verlander? Andrew McCutchen? Or the great Mariano Rivera?
Is it possible it could already be the unhittable Matt Harvey or the insanely talented Manny Machado?
Or could it be someone who won’t even be playing Tuesday, for whatever reason? Maybe Derek Jeter? Or Albert Pujols? Or the international phenomenon that is Ichiro Suzuki? Or the suddenly ever-present Yasiel Puig?
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Is there even such a thing as a Face of Baseball right now? If not, is that an indictment of the sport, or its marketing machinery, or the people who play it?
Or does baseball even need a Face? Is it really the game itself that we love? Is it the game that towers above all else, including even its brightest stars?
Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/allstar13/story/_/id/9479573/mlb-face-baseball-all-star-game
Related link: Jayson Stark is a featured panelist on our SABR 43 Media Panel in Philadelphia; join us July 31-August 4, 2013
Originally published: July 16, 2013. Last Updated: July 16, 2013.