Cobb's All-Star nod special moment for family, Giants teammates
Cobb's All-Star nod special moment for family, Giants teammates originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
After 12 seasons, 218 starts, 1,249 2/3 innings pitched, Alex Cobb can call himself an MLB All-Star.
The Giants' righty officially is headed to the midsummer classic, replacing Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder on the National League roster.
Cobb was tipped off to the news on Saturday morning and the announcement was official before the game. Giants manager Gabe Kapler broke the news to his team earlier in the afternoon before Cobb himself stood up and addressed his teammates, humbly claiming that there were others more deserving than him, but honored nonetheless to represent the organization alongside closer Camilo Doval.
The news brought a smile to the faces of every teammate and coach in the Giants' clubhouse, but nobody was happier for Cobb than veteran pitcher Alex Wood, who talked less about his own impressive performance in the Giants' 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies and gushed about how proud he was of his 35-year-old teammate.
"Cobby's one of my closest friends in this clubhouse," Wood told reporters after the game. "I get goosebumps thinking about it when I found out this morning. He works his ass off, he's been a great player for a long time. There's just really no greater honor on the individual level than to be named to an All-Star game, to be considered one of the best in baseball this season. I really am just so frickin' happy for him. I was jumping for joy when I found out this morning. I'm so pumped for him, it's going to be an awesome experience.
"He's had a few years where he's had a shot at it before, but now he's got two little girls who probably are old enough to experience that. I'm just so so happy for him."
Cobb has come close to receiving an All-Star nod multiple times over the course of his career, but probably none closer than his dominant 2013 season, where he posted an 11-3 record and a 2.76 ERA in 143 1/3 innings pitched with the Tampa Bay Rays. Just over 10 years ago, Cobb's dominant first half came to a close on June 15 when he was hit in the head by a comebacker on the mound and ended up leaving the game on a stretcher.
He returned to the mound two months later on Aug. 15 and finished the season strong, but without a well-deserved All-Star nod to show for it. After signing a two-year contract with San Francisco in Dec. 2021, Cobb has carried his success from last season into another excellent campaign next to young ace Logan Webb atop the Giants' rotation in 2023.
"Pretty cool. This has been one of the better pitchers in baseball period for the last two years and obviously, some injury stuff has come up over the last two that prevented him from being a surefire no-brainer," Kapler explained postgame. "Getting to see him pitch every fifth day and seeing the competitor he is, his attention to detail, how much he challenges himself, how hard he works and the effort he puts into this, it's really rewarding for our team to see him get rewarded."
Having finally accomplished something he has wanted for so long, where does Cobb's All-Star nod rank among his career accomplishments?
"Pretty high," Cobb said. "Before the season, you have these tiny aspirations or goals where you see where the All-Star game is located and you can picture yourself going there. And it just never worked out, ever throughout my career. I had some chances where I was close and things didn't work out. A lot of it is health-related, schedule related, there's just a lot that goes into it."
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The All-Star break always has been rather uneventful for Cobb and his family. However, this week he is proud to represent his team, his wife, his father and his two daughters on the field at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
"I've always been at home during the All-Star break and watching it on TV and had a little bit of that feeling where you feel like you're missing out," Cobb explained. "So it's really special to be a part of it this year. It kind of humbles you as well, looking around your ballclub and you see how many guys on your team that could have that ability to be representing the Giants. To be able to be picked is really special."
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