Burnes ready to make first All-Star start, some reviews from red carpet affair

ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes is having an All-Star experience that’s more like a flyby.

Burnes arrived in Dallas around 11 a.m. this morning and he’s boarding a flight back to Phoenix as soon as his start is over and he can shower and change clothes. The entire experience will last fewer than 12 hours if the plan is executed.

Get three outs and get back to his wife Brooke and twin daughters Charlotte and Harper.

Burnes is making his first career start among four consecutive selections to the All-Star Game. He’s the first Orioles pitcher to receive the honor since Steve Stone in 1980.

“It’s awesome to find out I was going to get the opportunity to start the game,” Burnes said. “There’s very few people that have gotten to start All-Star Games for the length that the All-Star Game’s been around. The join that group is special, and obviously there’s some pretty cool names that have been able to do it. Getting that opportunity to do that was awesome, and excited to get out there.”

Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez phoned Burnes with the news.

“I think the Orioles kind of grabbed that and helped set that up,” Burnes said. “He called me and let me know, then I heard from (Bruce) Bochy and from (Brandon) Hyde and (Drew) French, as well. They shot me some texts after it had been announced.”

The decision was made by Burnes and family to accept the All-Star invitation prior to learning of the starting assignment. He wouldn’t have declined if used in relief.  

“I had planned on coming in today, knowing obviously I have the twin girls at home to help out with and make sure they were doing all right and at least get a day to spend with them with this crazy season,” he said. “I planned on coming today and obviously making the start makes it that much better.”

The Orioles let Burnes fly back home over the weekend as they concluded their series against the Yankees. The timing was ideal for him.

“We had a couple of checkups yesterday, both on them and my wife,” he said. “Everyone’s doing good. Wife’s recovering well, girls are doing well. They’re still tiny, but they’re doing good.

“Was good to get home and see them. I can now say that I can tell them apart. The first couple days you’re with them you don’t really know, and then over the phone through FaceTime, it’s hard to tell. My wife liked playing the guessing game and put pictures up and I’d have no clue. Getting to see them and getting to hold them and be around them, I can definitely tell who’s who now. That was a little bit of reassurance on my part that I could tell my daughters apart.”

The next challenge for Burnes is shifting back into competitor mode.

Tonight’s game is an exhibition, supposed to be fun, but he still wants a clean outing.

“My routine of getting loose and pregame is always the same, so once you start falling into that process and getting going, it’s pretty easy for me to flip a switch,” he said. “Whether it’s a spring training start, an All-Star Game, a postseason start, my routine once I get going is pretty much the same. It’s pretty easy for me to flip a switch. Go out there and pitch my inning and hopefully the American League team wins.”

Teammate Adley Rutschman is catching Burnes tonight and Gunnar Henderson is at shortstop. Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg will wait their turns from the bench.

“That’s tough to do to get that many people in the All-Star Game,” Burnes said. “I think it’s a credit to how we’ve played in the first half, how those guys played in the first half. Obviously being in first place means you’re playing some good baseball on both sides of the ball. Excited for those guys.

“Three of them are first-time All-Stars. It’s been cool to be able to talk to them about their experience last night with the Home Run Derby and being here and sharing that with their families, it’s pretty special. I think more than anything, excited for them to get in the game and have fun.

* Players received the red carpet treatment earlier today in the sweltering heat. Burnes had to do it solo.

“It’s definitely weird walking alone,” he said. “I’ve been doing it with my wife the last couple years. Unfortunately she couldn’t make it, but she was still the one to pick the outfit. I had that one made through the guy who’s done my suit the last couple years. I told him I’d be coming in the morning of and said it needed to be casual. It was going to be hot, something comfortable. Gave him the specifics, gave my wife the leeway on the materials and the colors and let them get to work.

“If I dressed myself, it would probably be pretty bad. I’ll leave that to her.”

Burnes went with a dark collarless shirt and unzipped silver jacket with wide black trim on the shoulders. His teammates were a little more daring.

Rutschman was bravest and received the bulk of the attention with a white long-sleeve shirt and long, thick tassels – probably the most accurate description. Social media posts made comparisons to the infamous puffy shirt from “Seinfeld.”

"So I got a great designer,” Rutschman said. “Had some great options to choose from. Kind of asked her to put me out of my comfort zone a little bit, and so we came up with it. I thought it was pretty cool.”

How would Rutschman describe the outfit?

“I don’t know. Like a white shirt with some like things hanging off of it,” he said.

“They’re attached to the shirt. But I don’t really know what they were. Just kind of hanging out.”

Burnes had his own humorous take on it.

“Oof, Adley’s was interesting,” he said, smiling. “I’m still not quite sure what was going on there. Everyone else looked great. Still questionable about Adley’s. We’ll see. Maybe there are some better pictures that have some better angles of it.

“No, it’s fun, everyone’s got their own taste. Santander’s was probably the flashiest with that material and those colors. Westy looked like classic Westy. I don’t think I could’ve drawn it up any better with his outfit. And then Gunnar’s was a little bit more than I thought. He’s pretty quiet and down-to-earth guy, so he had a little flash to it. Yeah, overall I think everyone looked pretty good.”

Burnes tried to describe Rutschman’s look.

“All I could see are the tassels or I guess whatever hanging off. Aladdin maybe? I don’t know,” he said.

“I’m going to have to look at some more pictures at what was going on. I was taken aback at first and then that’s about as all I’ve got right now. Talk to me in a couple days once I get a good look at the pictures and we’ll see.”

Santander offered a critique that graded more favorably.

“I love it,” he said. “I saw him, I just told him, ‘Hey, where’s your hat, bro? You need your hat. Come on.’ That was beautiful. Like a cowboy hat. Because he’s got that kind of style. For us, it’s like that style with the guy with the horse and all that.”

Which outfit stood out to Westburg, who wore a dark green suit and white shirt.? You guessed it.

“Rutsch, I think that’s the easy answer,” he said. “It was out there, but I think that kind of matches his personality. He’s coming out of his shell and showing people and I’m happy he did it. It was cool.

“I liked Gunnar’s suit, too. Tony’s was really nice. I kind of think we cleaned up pretty well.”

“There were some interesting ones,” Henderson said, “and there were some cool ones.”

“Rutsch’s was cool,” Henderson added. “That was definitely interesting. He never told me what he was doing, so it was a surprise to me, but it looked good on him.”

Westburg walked with his wife Anna Claire. He was the first Orioles player introduced and they held hands all the way down the carpet.

“It was cool. It was hot, but cool,” he said.

“Cool for my wife. Gets to get dressed up and experience it all. Definitely something that I was taking in as I was going. Just trying to remember to smile and have fun doing it.”

Santander brought his parents, girlfriend and personal trainer. He kept stopping to sign autographs and pose for photos.

“That was beautiful,” he said. “You have to have a big smile and enjoy the moment with all those fans over there. That was something special for the rest of my life.

“I bet my mom dreamed of that moment as a mom. I was so happy for her that she can be able to be there.”

Santander’s jacket, which he wore over a white collared shirt and with white pants, was a rush job but impressed with its aqua and teal coloring and Miami vibe. He opened it to show off his No. 25 and the Venezuelan flag stitched inside.

“The guy was getting Gunnar’s vest and he sent me a text like, ‘Hey, you want to get measured?’ I said, ‘Bro, I don’t know if I’ll go. So he said, ‘Hey, just stay positive and then wait for the call,’” Santander recounted.

“He went to my apartment, he got my size and then when we got a call, he said, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go.’ He made it in one day.”

Making an All-Star team still amazes Santander, the one-time Rule 5 pick whose career kept stalling due to injuries.

"It’s been great so far," he said. "Being in the clubhouse with these All-Stars is great. You take a little from somebody and you just learn. This is like in life, you learn every single day. That’s my goal right here, take a little bit from one of the, let’s call it teammates, because we spent two days in the same clubhouse."