Elias Díaz named MVP of 2023 All-Star Game - 'I didn't think it was gonna turn into all this'

Elias Díaz wasn’t planning on playing much during the 2023 MLB All-Star Game as the third catcher on the National League squad. He told manager Rob Thomson that he’d do whatever was needed, even take a seat on the bench as a sort of interloper to the greatest baseball players of this generation.

Instead, he received more attention than just about anyone when he won the 2023 Ted Williams’ All-Star Game MVP Award thanks to his performance on Tuesday.

“I didn’t think it was gonna turn into all this,” Díaz said post-game in the press conference room beneath T-Mobile Park. “To win the trophy and whatever the prize that comes with it, it’s really special.”

go-ahead HR in ASG while trailing in 8th or later:

Today Elias Díaz
2003 Hank Blalock
1981 Mike Schmidt
1972 Cookie Rojas
1954 Gus Bell
1941 Ted Williams (walk-off) https://t.co/vSsa09LJPu

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 12, 2023

Díaz entered the game as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth with the American League ahead 2-1. Against Baltimore Orioles closer Félix Bautista with a runner on first base, Díaz got a splitter down in the strike zone and hammered it to left field for a go-ahead home run that decided the final result.

According to AL manager Dusty Baker, that stroke from Díaz should have been damn near impossible.

“(Bautista) threw a split… Adley (Rutschman) said that he hadn’t given up a home run on a split all year,” the Houston Astros skipper explained. “So, I guess that was just his moment that (Díaz) was supposed to do it.”

And to do it in front of his mother, who was one of his guests for the two days in Seattle, made Díaz emotional when receiving his award for excellence on the field following the 3-2 win for the NL, their first since 2012.

“That was incredibly special for me to have her here,” Díaz said through an interpreter. “A lot of emotions. With everything that we’ve been through, all the sacrifices that she made for me, it was really special to have her here for me.”

If all of this wasn’t enough for the first Colorado Rockies catcher to be selected to the Midsummer Classic, he’s now the first in franchise history to be awarded the Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game. 

The jersey worn by ⁦@Rockies⁩ catcher and 2023 All-Star Game MVP Elias Diaz, who hit the go-ahead home run to give the National League its first win since 2012, is headed to Cooperstown! pic.twitter.com/dKXvsTxo6m

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 12, 2023

The 32-year-old is also the seventh catcher to win the award and first since Brian McCann of Atlanta in 2010. He’s the second Venezuelan born player to take home the honors after Dave Concepcion of the Cincinnati Reds in 1982, and the 24th player to hit a home run in their first All-Star Game at-bat.

Lone, But Not Alone

It would have been a fair assumption by Diaz that he’d go to T-Mobile Park and make some new friends as the lone representative from the Rockies. However, it was former teammate and long-time friend Carlos Estévez who would be awaiting his arrival in Seattle.

“We were in San Francisco and he texted me because I posted something on Instagram,” Díaz shared in his cheerful manner. “He said to me, ‘I don’t want to watch the game, but now I’m gonna watch it because I know you’re gonna be there.’ The next day, I saw the news: Estevez is gonna be in the All-Star Game. So, I texted back, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be with me! So, let’s have fun.’”

Estévez, in the midst of an outstanding season as the Los Angeles Angels’ closer, was not a part of the initial roster for the AL on July 2. Only after Cleveland Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Clase was ruled inactive did Estévez get word he’d be an All-Star too.

When the Angels gathered in the clubhouse to wish luck to All-Stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, they also informed Carlos Estévez he’d be going to Seattle.

One problem: he already had a flight booked to go home for the break. pic.twitter.com/u28RZR40ns

— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) July 10, 2023

The two took photographs together on the field on Monday before the Home Run Derby and exchanged texts in the days leading up to the All-Star Game. Professionals they may be, but they also human beings who love each other as the game itself. Had they faced off during the course of the game, smiles, winks and nods all would have been exchanged.

It also mean each man would have aimed to earn bragging rights over the other.

“He’s going to try to strike me out. But I’m gonna try to hit a homer,” quipped Díaz the day before the game.

Elias Díaz was ecstatic over learning his former #Rockies teammate Carlos Estévez was named to the All-Star Game.

Should they face off on Tuesday, one of two things will happen:

“He’s going to try to strike me out. But I’m going to try to hit a homer.” pic.twitter.com/NbXKZRjwwU

— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) July 10, 2023

If he wasn’t friends with Bautista before, it may be hard for their friendship to start Tuesday’s big moment. 

Estévez pitched a scoreless fifth inning, striking out the first two NL hitters he faced — Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Orlando Arcia of Atlanta — before inducing a groundout from Juan Soto of the San Diego Padres.

More than three years ago, Díaz was non-tendered by a last place Pittsburgh Pirates team. Now, he stands atop the best players in the world as the All-Star Game MVP.

Baseball absolutely rules.