MIAMI -- Now that the All-Star Game doesn't matter, the trendy thing will be what fun things players will do during the contest.
Seattle Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz wins honors this year for walking to the plate, pulling a cell phone out of his back pocket, handing the phone to National League catcher Yadier Molina and posing for a photo with plate umpire Joe West.
You read that right. He didn't pose with the St. Louis Cardinals All-Star, who was decked out in a gold-painted helmet and a gold chest protector, but with an umpire before his sixth-inning at-bat on Tuesday night.
After the game, Cruz shared the photo on social media.
Cruz's picture with West didn't help him in the at-bat, as the American League All-Star flew out to center field.
But after taking a turn as a paparazzo, Molina popped a ball over the fence during his own at-bat, delivering a solo home run in the bottom half of the sixth to even the game at 1-1. With the homer, Molina became the oldest catcher to go deep in an All-Star Game.
Ultimately it was Cruz's AL squad that won Tuesday's All-Star Game 2-1 in 10 innings.
In years past, that would have meant that the AL pennant winner would have home-field advantage in the World Series, but for the first time in 13 years Tuesday's game didn't count as anything more than an exhibition of MLB's best and brightest.
