Before I tell you guys about the program you should’ve been watching instead of USA basketball completely pooping down their leg, I need to show some love to Shohei Ohtani; baseball’s biggest and brightest star. Baseball has always been my favorite sport, but I don’t write about it much because well baseball isn’t too popular these days and my hometown team sucks ass (thanks Dayton Moore).

But what Shohei Ohtani is doing this season is absolutely worth talking about. Honestly I should write a piece on him every week and just call it “Ohtani Time”. I think I literally just came up with a fire idea I’ll get back to y’all on that one. He is just an incredible human being. Despite what Stephen A. Smith thinks (never respected anything he said about a sport other than basketball), what he has managed to do this season is nothing short of remarkable. He is absolutely the face of Major League Baseball. He’s the best power hitter in the game. He leads Major League Baseball with 33 dingers. His swing looks like it was created in a lab. The exit velocity and launch angle he generates is unbelievable. And that’s not even the most impressive part of his game. He’s also lights out on the mound which in my opinion is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. He has a 3.41 ERA with 87 K’s this season. He’s quite simply the modern day Babe Ruth but actually a lot better. Scary times we are living in here in 2021. He was the main attraction for tonights Home Run Derby in one of the most anticipated derby’s I can remember. You know you’re doing something when Ken freaking Griffey Jr. is taking pictures of you before you even take a swing. This is history folks.

But that’s not why I’m here. Even tho Shohei put on a show including two swing-offs with the Nationals’ Juan Soto, I’m here to talk about another contestant. Remember when I said my hometown team sucks ass? Well one of the guys that doesn’t suck ass from the Kansas City Royals is catcher Salvador Pérez. This year he is having another fantastic season despite not getting nearly enough respect from baseball media and fans alike. He’s got 21 dingers which is the most by a catcher this season; by a wide margin. He’s not doing this with a .sub 200 batting average (unlike some of his teammates). He’s hitting .275 with 53 RBI’s which are more than respectable numbers. For his production he was rewarded with a spot on the Home Run Derby roster. In reality, the guys that the league wanted to compete declined and they didn’t have many other great options. Part of me believes that MLB was scared to piss off Royals Twitter and I am absolutely running with that theory. It’s a great honor and an exciting event that I am so happy Salvy got to be apart of.

HOWEVER, they did my man so wrong. So wrong and so dirty. Each contestant goes head to head with another player and the winner moves on to the next round. Salvy got by far the worst draw out of anyone. They put him against the reigning champion Pete Alonso. I feel like I need Keyshawn Johnson to say “come on man” because that was disrespectful as hell. I knew it would be a tough draw for Salvy but I thought maybe Pete will have a bad round and get off to a slow start. Nah. No such luck.

I should’ve seen this coming. After watching Alonso hit moon shots en route to a 19’ derby title I should have expected nothing less. That being said Salvy did not disappoint. He mashed 28 homers in the First Round which was more than anyone else not named Pete Alonso. But it was the blatant disregard for Pérez on the ESPN broadcast that puzzled me and sent KC sports Twitter into a firestorm. Watch his round and notice how ESPN’s crew barely acknowledge his presence on the field while Pete Alonso randomly talked about his cousin.

https://youtu.be/V8eftBXXDbw

Honestly I can’t say I’m surprised. National media could give two shits about Kansas City and unfortunately MLB put Salvador Pérez in a bracket with the reigning champ. And after Alonso hit 35 bombs in round 1 (which was a record) of course they’re going to interview him right after. Add in the fact that he plays for the New York Mets and it’s the perfect reason to completely ignore the Venezuelan guy from the small market Midwestern team. This is normal behavior from ESPN. I wish it did not happen to Salvy because he deserves so much better. I did not catch the broadcast on ESPN2 but apparently the coverage there highlighted Perez in a much better light. I’m not upset with ESPN’s coverage. I’m more upset that the league matched Pérez against as KC Sports Network’s Kent Swanson put it baseball “Thanos”. They never gave him a chance and the broadcast followed suit.

I do want to point out that they interviewed Perez later in the derby probably after some ESPN producers were hip to all the stray bullets their network was catching on Twitter regarding Salvador’s coverage. Hopefully next year he gets invited back after a very impressive showing . While I don’t particularly like the head-to head matchup style, it does provide a decent amount of drama which is what I’m sure brings in the casual fan. It just sucks that it hurt my guy in the process. Regardless, he represented his country and Kansas City and I fully expect a standing ovation waiting for him in the Royals first home game back from the All-Star break.