MLB All-Star Game Has Jordan Walker And $1 Million Reason It Strikes Out The Rest
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 13: Jordan Walker #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals poses with the trophy after winning the 2026 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park on July 13, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesIt ended 4-0, Americans.
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The Nationals couldn’t hit a lick.
Still, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Tuesday night in Philadelphia featured more thrills than, oh, say, watching a bunch of NFL guys trying to yank flags off the waists of each other.
And what was that thing the NBA held earlier this year with three teams divided between Stars, Stripes, John Philip Sousa and whatever else?
The NHL’s All-Star Game?
Don’t ask.
So, even before the latest version of baseball’s Mid-Summer Classic at stuffed Citizens Bank Park, with millions watching on TVs and other electronic devices, there were a couple of givens.
* This is the only All-Star Game that matters among the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
* The other ones fluctuate between boring and embarrassing.
Here’s all you need to know: $1 million.
That’s how much Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals pocketed Monday night after a few mighty swings. He did so before a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park when he edged hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies for the Home Run Derby title.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 2: Jordan Walker #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts after hitting a three-run home run during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on July 2, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesWalker will earn less than that ($799,400) from the Cardinals for a whole season.
There’s that, and then there’s this: The NBA’s version of the Home Run Derby during its All-Star Weekend each February is the Slam Dunk Contest. This year’s winner in Inglewood, California was Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat, and it wasn’t $1 million.
It was $890,000 . . . less than that.
Johnson still grabbed 42% more prize money at this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend than Damian Lillard, the then-Milwaukee Bucks standout who was awarded $60,000 after he nailed bomb after bomb to become king of the 3-point contest.
But how’s this for perspective?
The NFL complemented its Pro Bowl Game after last season with a slew of skill competitions. They ranged from Precision Passing and Gridiron Gauntlet to Move The Change and Kick Tac Toe. The winner for each of those events got the same monetary award.
Nothing.
At least the NFL had 2026 All-Star events.
The NHL didn’t. During the spring of 2025, NHL officials killed everything they originally had planned for their All-Stars at UBS Arena, which is the home in Elmont, New York of the New York Islanders. Those NHL officials said they wanted everybody to focus on the 2026 Winter Olympics. Nevertheless, they said they would replace All-Star stuff at UBS Arena with a “send-off” celebration for Team USA.
Neither that nor the All-Star Game happened.
Just as well.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 15: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs and Team World looks on during the 75th NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome on February 15, 2026 in Inglewood, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesThe only thing better than the NHL All-Star Game as a substitute for Ambien is the Pro Bowl, which has evolved into a flag-football affair. Literally. Which isn’t to say the NBA All-Star Game is better.
After decades of player apathy, which translated into fan apathy, NBA officials kept changing the format. They had East versus West. They had the two players with the most fan votes drafting the respective teams. They had a fourth quarter featuring a targeted score instead of a clock, and then they had this year’s USA versus USA versus the World silliness.
Let’s jump to Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where baseball held its 96th All-Star Game, and it wasn’t much different than the first one of July 6, 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
Like that one, this one in the City of Brotherly Love was an exhibition game, meaning it didn’t count, and yeah, the 2002 All-Star Game finished in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings when both sides ran out of pitchers. It led to MLB officials banning future ties, and to encourage competitiveness even more, they declared the All-Star Game winner would determine which league had home-field advantage during the World Series.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 03: Jonathan Taylor #28 of the Indianapolis Colts runs with the ball against Antoine Winfield Jr. #31 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl game between the AFC and the NFC at the Moscone Center South on February 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California. The NFC won 66-52. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesBaseball officials decided in 2017 to go back to the future, without the World Series thing, and it has worked. Take this one, for instance. It was an exhibition game, but in contrast to the All-Star Games of its counterparts for the NFL, NBA and NHL, it was mostly a game.
It was an interesting one.
Even though the American League continued its dominant stretch with its 11th victory in the last 13 years, you never got the feeling members of both sides were daydreaming about being anywhere else on earth. The Americans won after they hit and hustled their way to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, then they got stiffling pitching through the ninth. They held the Nationals to three hits, which sounds like a yawner.
Well, it wasn’t a screamer, but there were enough “baseball moments” surrounding the brilliant firework displays, Patti LaBelle sounding and looking nothing like 82 and tributes to the city as the 250-year-old host for the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Consider, too, that baseball’s All-Star Game last year in Atlanta continued as the most-watched All-Star Game among its peers. It drew 7.2 million viewers, and by comparison, 4.7 million watched both the 2025 NBA All-Star Game and the Pro Bowl a few weeks earlier.
The NHL?
Don’t ask.
In case you’re wondering, Walker struck out during his only at-bat during the All-Star Game. Even so, he still left town with more than half as much as the so-called “U.S. Stars” team that won the NBA All-Star Game this season.
That was $1.8 million.
That was split between eight guys.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com