Ryan Zimmerman is new to this All-Star Game thing, but he was well aware of the American League’s dominance in this event before he entered tonight’s game. And after the AL pulled off a 4-3 victory — extending its unbeaten streak to 13 years — the Nats’ third baseman was just as upset as everyone inside the NL clubhouse.
“We wanted to win,” he said. “We talked about it before the game. We’re tired of losing to them.”
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Zimmerman entered in the fifth inning, replacing longtime friend David Wright at third base. He came to the plate twice, roping a long fly ball to center field in the fifth and popping a shallow fly ball to right field in the eighth. His uneventful performance and the NL loss couldn’t dampen his spirits completely, though.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “It gives you a lot of motivation to work harder and get better and better each year. This being my first, just going through everything was kind of a whirlwind. It’s quite an honor.”
I asked Zim if the experience of his first All-Star Game makes him want to come back even more.
“Absolutely,” he said. “When you get named to it, you’re excited obviously, but you don’t realize what an honor it is and how hard it is to do. There’s 32 guys, and probably 16 of them are position players. It’s pretty high up there on individual accomplishments.”
