First, Rooker homered in the top of the seventh inning to set the stage for the American League to mount its comeback in what would end up as a historic and electric 2025 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard.
Then Rooker was a part of that history by being one of the American League’s hitters who participated in a first-of-its-kind tiebreaking home run swing-off. The A’s slugger hit a pair of home runs 435 feet and 459 feet to put the AL on the board before the National League pulled away for a 7-6 victory with Kyle Schwarber’s MVP-earning three home runs.
“Same swing, same feel, same setup I had last night, and it kept working,” Rooker said.
Like Monday night, Rooker was in the cage minutes before he expected to go hit. Rooker and catcher Cal Raleigh were tied at the end of the first round of the Derby with 17 home runs, but Raleigh’s longest home run edged Rooker’s by 0.96 inches.
On Tuesday, Rooker got the swing-off he deserved.
“I thought it was super fun,” Rooker said. “Definitely a fun and interesting and different way to end it. But enjoyable. I don’t know what the viewing experience was like, but on the field, it was electric.”
In his second All-Star Game, Rooker got one at-bat and did all he needed to do with it. His three-run blast made him the fourth A’s player with a home run in the All-Star Game, joining Terry Steinbach in 1988, Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in 1971 and Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx in 1935. Rooker’s three RBIs tied Foxx for the most in A’s history in a single All-Star Game.
Ready to wrap up the day after that, Rooker was pinch-hit for in the eighth with the AL down two runs. He went to see his family outside the visiting clubhouse at Truist Park as the game continued, but he knew he had to stick around in case of an injury or anything else emergent that might have arisen.
Like that extra-inning rule.
“As it got closer, I went back out and was like, ‘Well, actually, if the game ends in a tie, it’s a home run swing-off or whatever and I’m doing it. So you guys should go back up to the seats,’” Rooker said.
The Derby-like tiebreaker was installed as part of the current collective bargaining agreement three years ago. It has never been needed until this year, when the AL stormed back from a six-run deficit, started by Rooker and capped by a trio of dynamic AL Central players with doubles from Byron Buxton and Bobby Witt Jr. along with the game-tying single from Steven Kwan.
When the NL couldn’t walk it off in the ninth, the tiebreaker turned to taters. Both AL manager Aaron Boone and NL skipper Dave Roberts had each selected three players to receive three swings apiece, with the most total homers per side victorious.
The players had been selected on Monday; Boone asked Rooker if he would be interested because he was going to be one of the players playing in the back half of the game and still on site.
There aren’t many better options than Rooker, who has transformed himself into a reliable power hitter in the middle of the A’s lineup and has 20 homes at the All-Star break.
For Rooker, Tuesday’s swing-off was a bit more nervewracking than Monday’s Derby.
“Way more nervous,” Rooker said. “That one was like you’re doing it for your teammates, too, not just for you. I think there was that added element. And there’s also another team actively rooting against you, so I think that adds to it as well. But that was a lot of fun.”
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rooker hopped in the batting cage below the visiting dugout at Truist Park, saw six to eight pitches from Yankees first-base coach Travis Chapman just to get the arm slot down, and went back on the field to hit first.
Rooker fouled the first pitch off but then launched two home runs to deep left-center field. Walking back to his AL teammates all celebrating him was, Rooker said, “definitely one of the cooler parts of it.”
“That was awesome to see him do that,” Witt said. “Homer in the game, two homers in the swing-off.”
Rooker watched Schwarber turn three swings into three home runs to win it for the NL. But that didn’t take away from Rooker’s second All-Star experience.
He certainly didn’t think he’d be doing two derbies in two days.
“It’s interesting to do two different ones in two different days,” Rooker said. “I was way more nervous for that one than I was last night, I know that. But equally as fun.”
