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• FOR THE WEEK OF July 10 - 16, 2023 • yOuR WEEKly GuIDE TO TV ENTERTAINMENT Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao in "The Afterparty" It's that time of year again, as the Seattle Mariners prepare to host the 2023 MLB All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday, July 11. Excitement is building for this year's Midsummer Classic, which continues the long-standing tradition (since 1933) of showcasing base- ball's finest talent and celebrating the game fans love. While fans voted to send their favorites to the game, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was busy generating headlines with his impressive offensive play. Ohtani, who moved from Japan to the big leagues in 2018, appears to be on pace to match his 2021 MVP season when the pitcher/desig- nated hitter became the first all-star in MLB history to be chosen as a two-way player. With free agency looming, Ohtani is arguably playing the best base- ball of his career. In a four-game stint against the Texas Rangers earlier this season, the former AL rookie of the year hit four home runs in the series, and in the final game, he struck out three Rangers. Last year, Ohtani became the first player to finish among MLB's top 15 in both home runs and pitching strikeouts since the pitching mound was relocated in 1893. If Ohtani manages to eclipse his 2021 MVP season, it will be hard to deny another MVP run at the plate. If not for the talents of Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs in the 2022 season, Ohtani would potentially be chasing his third straight AL MVP award right now. He remains one of MLB's toughest pitchers (with an AL- low batting average against of .178 as of June 20) and was the first player in the AL to hit 20 homers (as of June 20 he had 24). MLB's first two-way all-star is still making waves By Roberto Jozef playerprofile

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