Who are the best players to suit up in celebrity softball?
Cole Jacobson
@ColeJacobson32When MLB¡¯s regular season gets past its midway point, it¡¯s time for one of the great annual traditions to get underway.
No, we¡¯re not talking about the All-Star Game. Not the Home Run Derby either, or the Futures Game. We¡¯re talking about where the best of the best leave everything out there on the field: the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game.
Alright, maybe the talent and the effort don¡¯t always live up to that standard. But to say there aren¡¯t any diamonds in the rough would be a stretch as well. What¡¯s the best team you could form of previous celebrity softball participants? We¡¯re here to answer the question you wouldn¡¯t even think of asking.
To clarify: for inclusion on this list, the celebrities can¡¯t be former baseball or softball players who played at a professional or Olympic level. No disrespect intended to the likes of Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Jennie Finch, Wade Boggs and so on, but if the reason you¡¯re famous is because of your career prowess on a diamond, it shouldn¡¯t be surprising if you dominate on the celebrity softball field.
With that being said, here¡¯s the all-time team of the best players from previous All-Star celebrity games. We split this into nine players who are famous for their abilities in sports besides baseball or softball, and nine who are celebrities for reasons unrelated to sports.
Athletes
Mike ¡°The Miz¡± Mizanin
¡°The Miz¡± is a professional wrestler signed to WWE, and it turns out he can hold his own in team sports as well. Though there¡¯s no sign that his celebrity softball career is done, he¡¯s already among the most accomplished players in the history of the game, taking home MVP honors in both 2018 and 2022. Interestingly, ¡°The Miz¡± participated in three sports in high school, but none were baseball: basketball, swimming and cross country. He¡¯s simply someone who knows how to compete.
Zach LaVine
LaVine is a 10-year NBA veteran and two-time NBA All-Star, who has spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls. But LaVine is from the Seattle area, and he made a big impression when the Mariners¡¯ T-Mobile Park hosted the celebrity game in 2023, hitting two home runs and notably robbing Mike Cameron of a dinger as well. Though LaVine has no known baseball background, his mother, C.J., played softball in college and beyond.
Donovan Mitchell
LaVine wasn¡¯t the only NBA star to show out at the 2023 celebrity game, as Mitchell also homered in the game. Mitchell has been an All-Star in each of the past five NBA seasons, with his last two coming with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unlike LaVine, Mitchell did spend some time around a diamond growing up. His father, Donovan Sr., was a Minor League baseball player and future Mets employee, and the younger Mitchell played for two seasons at Canterbury High School (Conn.).
Derrick White
Sticking to the basketball theme, White is a name that might be especially fresh in sports fans¡¯ minds, given his heavy contributions to the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics team. White, a Colorado native who also played basketball at two different colleges in the state, dominated at the 2021 celebrity game at Coors Field, going 2-for-2 with a homer to earn MVP honors. Like LaVine, White has no documented baseball playing background, though he did appear at a Red Sox game this season to discuss his love of the sport.
Jerry Rice
Comfortably the NFL¡¯s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, Rice proved himself to be capable in more than one sport in 2007. With the celebrity game being held at AT&T Park in San Francisco, the city where Rice dominated for so many years with the 49ers, he hit a home run and a double to earn MVP honors. Rice played basketball and track and field along with football in high school, but there¡¯s no documented evidence of him playing competitive baseball.
Larry Fitzgerald
How¡¯s this for a convenient segue? The person who ranks second behind Rice on the all-time NFL receptions and receiving yards lists, Fitzgerald, has also been able to hold his own on the softball field. Fitzgerald made his celebrity softball debut in the 2011 game in Arizona, the state where he became a legend for the football Cardinals, though he also returned in the 2014 game in Minnesota. Fitzgerald did play baseball growing up, though he was strictly a football player by the time he began high school.
Terrell Owens
Why not keep the trend going? The person who ranks third behind Rice and Fitzgerald in receiving yards in NFL history, Owens, got in on the action during the 2024 game in Texas. The slow-pitch softball fences are brought in closer to home plate, for obvious reasons, but Owens managed to blast a home run that remarkably hit the actual Major League wall on the fly in left field at Globe Life Park. Owens played baseball, along with football, basketball and track and field, at Benjamin Russell High School (Ala.).
Drew Brees
It¡¯s not just legendary pass-catchers who have tried their hand in the celebrity softball game. Brees, who ranks second in NFL history behind Tom Brady in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, hit a home run in the 2016 game in San Diego, the city where he began his NFL career with the Chargers from 2001-05. Brees lettered in football, basketball and baseball in high school, and he told MLB.com that he initially thought baseball would be his path to success.
Matt Cassel
Sticking to quarterbacks, Cassel had a 14-season NFL career from 2005-18, being best known for leading the Patriots to an 11-5 season in Tom Brady¡¯s absence in 2008, and making the Pro Bowl with the Chiefs after the 2010 season. Cassel played in the 2012 celebrity game in Kansas City, though his outing was more memorable for him being booed by disgruntled Chiefs fans than for his own performance. Cassel was enough of a baseball guy growing up that he arguably shouldn¡¯t even be eligible for this article. He was a member of the Northridge (Calif.) Little League team that reached the finals of the 1994 LLWS, and he played at southern California powerhouse Chatsworth High School, along with one season pitching at USC. He was even drafted by the A¡¯s in the 36th round of the 2004 MLB Draft, though he didn¡¯t sign with them for obvious reasons.
Non-athletes
Nelly
Nelly (legally named Cornell Haynes Jr.) has been one of the most prominent hip-hop artists of the 21st century, with three Grammy Award wins and 12 nominations to his name. But while his music career has been strong, when it comes to celebrity softball, he has a legit argument as the G.O.A.T. Nelly was co-MVP of both the 2009 and 2014 games, with the 2009 game coming in St. Louis, where he grew up. Nelly also put his athleticism to use when he starred as running back Earl Megget in ¡°The Longest Yard.¡± He played baseball in high school, and according to ESPN, Nelly almost gave playing professional baseball a shot before his music career took off.
Brian Littrell
Sticking to the music world, Littrell is best known for being one of the members of the Backstreet Boys. On the celebrity softball field, he can certainly hold his own too, going 1-for-2 in the 2009 game (victimized by a diving Nelly catch) while also making some strong defensive plays. But what¡¯s even more notable for Littrell, a former high school baseball player, is that he appeared with the Savannah Bananas in a 2023 game.
David Nail
We have yet another musician on the list, though Nail stands out in a different genre, having been a country music singer throughout the 21st century. Nail hit two home runs in the 2014 celebrity game in Minnesota, sharing MVP honors with Nelly in that game, and he also had another homer in the 2010 game at Angel Stadium. Nail was a high school catcher in Missouri, and even had a mock ¡°tryout¡± with the Cardinals after he was an established musician.
Miles Teller
Teller is an actor known for the likes of ¡°Whiplash,¡± the ¡°Divergent¡± series, ¡°War Dogs¡± and ¡°Top Gun: Maverick.¡± Teller played well in the 2015 celebrity softball game in Cincinnati, which made sense given that he was a high school baseball player who ¡°dreamed of playing in the All-Star Game in some capacity¡± as a kid. Teller, who was born in Pennsylvania, has discussed his extreme Phillies fandom with MLB.com in the past. Teller channeled his baseball background by playing a baseball star also named Miles in the 2012 film ¡°Project X.¡±
Joel McHale
McHale is an actor best known for his role in the sitcom ¡°Community,¡± along with hosting a show called ¡°The Soup¡± from 2004-15. McHale hit ¡°Little League home runs¡± in both the 2022 and 2023 celebrity games, the latter of which was in Seattle, where he grew up. McHale has no documented competitive baseball background, but he did briefly play as a walk-on tight end for the University of Washington¡¯s football team in the 1990s. He also threw a killer ceremonial first pitch at a Mariners game in 2018.
Bobby Bones
Bones (legally named Bobby Estell) is a radio personally, best known for hosting "The Bobby Bones Show," along with being a "Dancing With the Stars" champion in 2018. He blasted an inside-the-park home run and a triple in the 2024 game, along with a stellar pitching performance, leading to him earning MVP honors. There¡¯s no documented evidence of Bones playing competitive baseball.
Foreign Teck
Foreign Teck (legally named Michael Hernandez) is a Dominican-American music producer who has secured twenty gold and platinum RIAA certifications, along with a Grammy nomination, during his career. Teck cranked two home runs in the 2023 game in Seattle, though he came up short in the MVP race thanks to a strong performance from, and perhaps some friendly home crowd voting for, retired Mariners star Bret Boone. Teck also returned and hit a home run in the 2024 game in Arlington, Texas. Teck played baseball into high school, and notably connected with Mets stars Francisco Lindor and Edwin D¨ªaz for a recent music video.
Kevin James
James has starred in movies including ¡°Hitch,¡± ¡°I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry¡± and ¡°Grown Ups,¡± but he¡¯s best known for acting as the titular character in the sitcom ¡°The King of Queens.¡± And he certainly was the King of Queens on a summer night at Citi Field in 2013. Playing in the borough where his longtime television show was based, James left everything out there, memorably diving head-first into second base for a double and earning co-MVP honors. James¡¯ own athletic background is more in football, though, as he briefly played running back at SUNY Cortland.
Tony Todd
To clear up the potential confusion here, this is not the Tony Todd who¡¯s the titular character of the ¡°Candyman¡± horror movie series, but rather the Tony Todd who played second baseman Mickey Scales in ¡°Little Big League,¡± along with a recurring role in the TV show ¡°Anger Management.¡± This Tony Todd earned MVP honors at the 2004 celebrity game with a performance so dominant that it spurred ESPN¡¯s Bill Simmons to say he was ¡°too good¡± for the game. This made sense, given that he was a football and baseball star at Santa Monica High School (Calif.) -- where he was baseball teammates with future ¡°Anger Management¡± co-star Charlie Sheen -- before injuries derailed a football scholarship to USC.