Emotional Rooker earns first All-Star selection
Martšªn Gallegos
@MartinJGallegosOAKLAND -- A¡¯s players and coaches gathered inside the home clubhouse at the Coliseum on Sunday morning prior to their series finale against the White Sox. The team meeting called by manager Mark Kotsay was to announce who will be representing the club in Seattle for this year¡¯s All-Star Game.
Before revealing the selection, Kotsay began the meeting by asking everyone in the room to raise their hand if they had ever made a Little League All-Star team. Almost every hand went up. Kotsay then asked if anyone had made a Minor League All-Star team. The number of hands decreased to about half.
Kotsay¡¯s final question to the group was a show of hands for anyone who has made a Major League All-Star team, to which most hands -- including designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker¡¯s -- went down. Kotsay immediately focused on Rooker and told him to keep his hand raised, because for the first time in his career, Rooker was named an All-Star.
¡°To be completely transparent, I never allowed myself to think I can make an All-Star team, so this is even shocking for me,¡± Rooker said. ¡°It¡¯s overwhelming. To go out and achieve something I never really considered to be possible until right now, it¡¯s a cool feeling, for sure.¡±
Frustrated by his lack of big league opportunities in 2022 despite putting up strong numbers at Triple-A in both the Padres¡¯ and Royals¡¯ organizations, Rooker looked forward to a new opportunity with Oakland after being claimed off waivers from Kansas City in November. The A¡¯s had kept tabs on him dating back to his college days -- when he starred at Mississippi State as the second player to win the SEC Triple Crown before being selected in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft by Minnesota -- and they were excited about the potential.
Still, Rooker¡¯s spot on the A¡¯s was not a given. He had to earn that in Spring Training by staving off some stiff competition in a roster battle that came down to the final week of camp.
Taking advantage of an injury to Seth Brown early in the regular season, Rooker stepped in as an everyday player and built his All-Star case by performing as one of MLB¡¯s top hitters. Over the month of April, Rooker hit .358 with nine homers and a 1.262 OPS. His nine homers were the most by an A¡¯s player in March/April since Khris Davis hit 10 in 2017 and were one shy of Mark McGwire¡¯s franchise record of 11 in 1997.
¡°His bat carried him to the All-Star Game,¡± Kotsay said of Rooker. ¡°He was one of the hottest hitters for a month¡¯s time frame, and it led to the players rightfully honoring him. ¡ The perseverance and grit that it took for Rook to get to where he¡¯s at right now, he¡¯s emotional about it, as he should be.¡±
A signature moment of Rooker¡¯s breakout campaign came during a series against the Angels at Angel Stadium in April. Rooker crushed three homers in four games, including an impressive opposite-field blast off Shohei Ohtani to break up a no-hit bid.
Rooker keeps a photo of that homer off Ohtani in his locker. Now that the two will be teammates at the Midsummer Classic, he plans to ask the two-way superstar to sign it as a keepsake from the festivities.
¡°I¡¯m going to approach him very humbly and try to get him to sign it,¡± Rooker said. ¡°That¡¯s something I would love to have forever. If there¡¯s anybody doubting that he is the best baseball player of all time, I don¡¯t really know why. He could be the front page story on every newspaper every day and it wouldn¡¯t be talked about enough about what he¡¯s doing. It¡¯s crazy. I¡¯m going to definitely introduce myself to him very humbly and meekly and see if he will sign that picture for me.¡±
Rooker joked that he is going to feel a bit out of place sharing a clubhouse with stars such as Aaron Judge and Mike Trout. These are players he has watched hours of video on in an effort to pick up ways to improve his swing and overall approach at the plate.
But Rooker should not feel too out of place. After all, he was next in line for AL DH via the player ballot behind only Ohtani, voted in by his peers around the league.
¡°He is an All-Star, and he¡¯ll get to live with that designation for the rest of his life,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°He¡¯s very deserving of this recognition.¡±