LOS ANGELES — Joc Pederson is back in Dodger Stadium playing for the home team.
He is not expecting a warm welcome, though.
The longtime Dodgers outfielder was selected for the National League All-Star team as a member of the San Francisco Giants. It will be his third different team that he’s represented in a return to Dodger Stadium, and the fans have given him understandably different reactions.
“With the Cubs they were nice,” Pederson said. “With the Braves they were kind of nice and then we kicked their butt a little bit and they weren’t so nice toward the end of that series (the 2021 NLCS).
“And with the Giants, they’ve been not nice the whole time. Hopefully, I’ll be on their good side for the next 48 hours.”
Fan reaction aside, Pederson said an All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium is an extra thrill.
“I think it’s an honor to play anywhere, but especially after spending so much time here,” Pederson said. “Feels like coming home. I’m really excited to take it all in.”
PHOTOS: Images from Monday’s All-Star press conferences and workout at Dodger Stadium.
Another longtime Dodger, shortstop Corey Seager, is returning to the ballpark, this time for the visiting team. Seager signed with the Texas Rangers last winter.
“It was weird walking in on the other side and not knowing where you are and everything,” Seager said. “But it’s been great so far to see some guys and be back where it all started. It’s cool.”
STRAIGHT TO VIDEO
When Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman got the news Sunday that he had been added to the National League All-Star team the most excited person in his house was a 5-year-old gamer.
“Two days ago, Charlie was playing ‘MLB: The Show’ and he was sad because I wasn’t going to be in the All-Star Game,” Freeman said of the oldest of his three sons. “He always plays as the NL All-Star team and I wasn’t going to be on that team next year.”
Realizing his father would be on that roster in the new edition of the game next year now, Freeman said Charlie was “so excited.”
“You should have seen his face,” he said.
Freeman’s torrid finish to the first half earned him his second Player of the Week award this season, which was announced Monday.
Freeman went 12 for his last 19 before the All-Star break (.632) with an 1.810 OPS, two home runs, four doubles, five RBIs and five multi-hit games in his final six games. Along the way, Freeman collected his 1,000th career RBI, raised his average to .321 and took over the MLB lead with 114 hits.
SETTLED IN
The Angels traded C.J. Cron to the Tampa Bay Rays in spring training in 2018, and that started an odyssey that saw Cron play for five teams in five years.
“It’s not the easiest,” Cron said. “Once that little trend starts, it’s tough to let it stop.”
Now, Cron is settled in with the Colorado Rockies, and he’s enjoying such a good year that he’s a 32-year-old first-time All-Star.
Cron said he hasn’t changed his game as much as he’s just flourished from the opportunity to play every day in Colorado.
“I feel like as a hitter, we always make the minor adjustments,” Cron said. “I don’t think I did anything crazy. I definitely retooled my setup a little bit. But other than that, I just think it was having the opportunity to play every day and it just helped me a lot.”
HOMECOMING
Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried got to come home for his first All-Star Game. The former Harvard-Westlake High standout helped the Braves win a World Series title last fall.
“Anytime you come back to Dodger Stadium, it’s fun,” said Fried, who is unavailable to pitch Tuesday after making a weekend start for Atlanta. “To be able to have my first (All-Star Game) back home and to be able to see family and friends is special.”
STILL ANGRY
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker was asked if he expects to be booed – or if any of the Astros players will be – at Dodger Stadium by Dodger fans still angry over the Astros’ sign-stealing during their 2017 World Series championship.
Pitchers Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez and outfielder Kyle Tucker are the only active Astros on this year’s All-Star team. Second baseman Jose Altuve and former Astros outfielder George Springer (now with the Toronto Blue Jays) were selected but will not play due to injuries.
“Whether I’m cheered or booed at this point in my life, my career, doesn’t matter – and I’ve been cheered and booed all over the country,” Baker said, the AL manager.
“If they boo my players – I would prefer that this beautiful town of L.A. don’t and kind of forget the past because most of the players that are here weren’t even there during the scandal. I just wonder about the forgiveness of mankind. … I hope that they don’t boo them because it doesn’t do any good.”