Jackson Merrill Makes First All-Star Appearance

This was not the Oscars, the Emmys, the Grammys or the Golden Globe Awards. This was the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and Jackson Merrill walked down the red carpet in Arlington, Texas, while sporting Dior loafers, white pants and a blazer gifted to him from teammate Xander Bogaerts.

The Severna Park High School graduate and San Diego Padres rookie savored the lighthearted moment before participating in Tuesday night’s main event, the contest between the American League and Merrill’s National League team.

Merrill entered the game in center field in the sixth inning and came up to bat in the seventh inning, lining out to left field on a 1-1 changeup from Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo.

Spoiler alert, the American League beat Merrill’s National League team 5-3, but Merrill set the stage for a possible rally by hitting a 101-mile-per-hour cutter for a dribbler down the first-base line in the ninth inning to bring the tying run to the plate.

As one of five Padres selected to represent the National League, Merrill told MLB Tonight’s Jake Peavy that the overall experience was rewarding.

“It’s been great,” Merrill said. “I met a lot of new people that I’ve played against and never really got to talk to, so it’s been cool.”

Merrill told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune that he hopes to make it back to the All-Star Game, also known as the Midsummer Classic.

“If I’m playing good enough and I’m in the All-Star game, our team is probably winning,” Merrill said. “The first spot, I was playing really good and got here by doing that, and we were winning a lot of games. I just have to play kind of like a second-half All-Star now and try to help the team as much as possible so we can dominate.”