"He puts the G in Goat" "Hometown MVP" - New York Yankees fans celebrate Los Angeles native Giancarlo Stanton's All-Star Game MVP Award

It was a sweet homecoming for Giancarlo Stanton in the 2022 MLB All-Star Game. The 32-year-old slugger, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, claimed the All-Star Game MVP in this year's edition of the event.

Stanton grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan and attended games at Dodger Stadium as a kid. Tonight, he blasted the tying two-run home run in the stadium where he grew up watching baseball.

Giancarlo Stanton blasted the 457-foot home run to left center field off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin. Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez also scored on the play. These were the tying runs for the game.

In the subsequent at-bat, Minnesota's Byron Buxton smacked his own home run that gave the American League the go-ahead and eventual winning run.

The home runs by the superstar outfielders were enough to give the American League a 3-2 win. This also extended its winning streak to nine games.

The American League now has 47 all-time wins against the National League's 43 wins.

Giancarlo Stanton adds another trophy to his collection

Giancarlo Stanton has amassed a ton of awards during his career. This includes two Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, a Home Run Derby title, a gold medal in the World Baseball Classic, and of course, the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award.

Stanton became the 56th different person to win the award. He also became just the third New York Yankees player to achieve the feat.

The Los Angeles-born slugger's home run was the hardest hit in the statcast era of the All-Star Game. The ball had an exit velocity of 111.7 miles per hour, a testament to his power.

By no means are Stanton's season stats eye-popping. However, when he decides to hit the ball, he hits nukes. He is batting just .237 but with an OPS of .835. Of his 10 hits during the month of July, five were home runs.

Compared to his career numbers, the 2017 National League MVP had a slow start in the first half of the season. This, however, shouldn't discount the fact that he has bagged 24 home runs and 61 RBIs during the season's opening half.

Stanton has a habit of heating up in the month of August, as his career pattern indicates. Given how dominant the Yankees have been this season, Stanton coming online for them would be unimaginable for their opposition.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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