San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb had a forgettable All-Star Game this season, blowing a 3-0 National League lead in the bottom of the third inning.
It was a surprising performance for a usually rock-solid pitcher, but it turns out there might have been more to his performance than some bad pitches. Two months after the game, Webb appeared on the “Rose Rotation” podcast and admitted he partied a little too close to the sun the night before the All-Star Game.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time a person has admitted to alcohol tinging their performance at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game. Country singer Ingrid Andress admitted to being drunk while singing the national anthem before the Home Run Derby in a widely criticized performance.
As Webb explained it, an open bar at a post-Derby party for players did him in:
“It was probably one of the more hungover days I’ve been, the day of the All-Star Game. I take responsibility for that. I was having a blast. It was a cool experience, I’m watching the Derby, they had a postgame players’ celebration, like a party for the players and their families.
“It was in the middle of the Cowboys stadium, Lil Jon was DJing. It’s free alcohol, I just enjoyed it. I didn’t enjoy when my wife woke me up at 7 in the morning and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get my makeup done right now’, and I was like, ‘Oh no, this is going to be a long day.’ And it was a long day.”
That long day saw Webb do what he could to rid himself of the hangover, but he eventually found himself warming up for an appearance in the the third inning:
“I was nervous, I was excited, I had a lot of Red Bulls, I got Tylenol because I’m trying to get the hangover out of me. I think I wasted all my good pitches in the bullpen. It was all I had, and I wasted all of them.
“Then I go from the bullpen, and I jog out to the mound, and the only thing I’m thinking is ‘Don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up.’ And it’s a long jog. I think my first pitch almost didn’t make it to [Los Angeles Dodgers catcher] Will Smith.”
Webb got in trouble quickly, allowing a single to Marcus Semien and walking Steven Kwan. A Gunnar Henderson groundout put two runners in scoring position, and then Juan Soto scored them both with an RBI double. David Fry completed the damage with an RBI single to tie the game.
The NL ended up losing 5-3.
You could call this a warning for how seriously the players take the All-Star Game. For players, it’s a mid-season vacation in which they have to play a little baseball. Even when there were actual stakes, like when it determined home-field advantage in the World Series, it wasn’t like players were training intensely for an inning of work or a few at-bats.
That attitude bore out for Webb after he stepped off the mound, as his NL teammates made pretty clear they didn’t mind him blowing the lead. Some fans, however …
“I got out of the game, and I felt so bad. That was like 7 million people watching. I said, ‘This team is going to hate me.’ And I’m walking in the dugout, and I’m going, ‘My bad, guys, my bad, guys.’ And every superstar you can think of that was on the National team is like, ‘Dude, who gives a f***?’ Everyone was like ,’Who cares, who f***ing cares, who gives a f***, who cares?’ That’s all I heard walking down, and I’m like, ‘Alright, that makes me feel better about myself. That’s alright.’
“I do know some fans were mad at me because a certain someone didn’t get the All-Star Game MVP because they would have if we won the game. You know who I’m talking about. It’s alright, I’m good with it.”
That certain someone would be Shohei Ohtani, who clubbed a three-run homer in the top of the third inning to give the NL its lead. Webb isn’t wrong that Ohtani probably would’ve won MVP honors if the Giants pitcher had kept it together, but his disregard for that consequence is hardly surprising, given San Francisco‘s attitude toward the Dodgers.