Kyle Schwarber wins first Phillies All Star Game MVP in 61 years!

Schwarber further etches himself into Phillies lore forever.

Kyle Schwarber declined to participate in MLB’s official Home Run Derby on Monday night, deciding rest and relaxation was the better part of valor.

Fate, it seems, will not be denied.

Since 1965, the Phillies have had 146 representatives sent to the All Star Game, including Zack Wheeler (who did not play) and Kyle Schwarber this year.

Last night, Kyle Schwarber did what none of them had done.

The Phillies, at long last, have another All Star Game MVP.

After the American League battled back from a 6-0, 7th inning deficit to tie the Midsummer Classic with two runs in the 9th, MLB rules instituted during the last collective bargaining agreement four years ago determined the game would not end in a tie, nor would they play extra innings with a zombie runner on 2nd. Instead, each team would select three hitters, each of whom would get three swings, and whichever team launched the most dingers would “win” the All Star Game.

Batting second for the NL, Schwarber went 3-for-3 in tank shots, giving the NL a 4-3 lead that AL slugger Jonathan Aranda could not overcome, earning the National League the win and Schwarber the team’s first All Star Game MVP since Johnny Callison in 1964.

Schwarber, with 30 home runs at the break, is made for moments like this. The team’s offensive MVP through the first half, he not only performs on the field, but he’s an invaluable voice in the locker room. Everyone loves him. There’s no way the Phillies will let him walk in free agency.

He has become, yes perhaps even more than Bryce Harper, the most important player on the team.

Schwarber actually had a chance to end things in the normal way, leading off the 9th inning against Boston fireballer Aroldis Chapman. Schwarber lined out to third, a hard-hit ball that found a glove. The box score will note that the 2025 All Star Game MVP went 0-for-2 with a walk, and did not participate in any of the 12 runs that were scored in the nine innings of what was a wildly entertaining Classic.

John Smoltz on the Fox Sports broadcast described it as “one of the most clutch things he’s ever seen.”

The only other Phillie with as big a moment on the All Star Game stage was Callison, whose walk-off, three-run homer in ‘64 gave the NL a thrilling 7-4 win.

Mike Schmidt went to 12 All Star Games. No MVP. Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts pitched in seven of them. No MVPs. Chase Utley went to six. Jimmy Rollins, Greg Luzinski, Bryce Harper, Cole Hamels, Lenny Dykstra Darren Daulton, none of them won an MVP over six decades.

It took some unique circumstances for Schwarber to break the six decade-long streak of empty Phillies All Star Game moments.

At long last, the All Star Game MVP trophy is back in Philadelphia.