History was made in the 95th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which took place July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.

MLB had a plan to make sure there was not a lengthy, multiple-inning All-Star Game — which happened in the 1967 “Mid-Summer Classic” at Angels Stadium (it went by Anaheim Stadium at that time) when the National League beat the American League 2-1 in 15 innings.

Thus, the “Home Run Swing-Off” went into effect after the American League rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game at 6-all in the top of the ninth inning.

Thanks to Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber hitting three homers in his three swings, the NL won the swing-off 4-3 to win the game, which officially will go down as a 6-all tie with an asterisk, leading to a footnote saying why the NL was giving the victory. In 2002, the MLB All-Star Game was played at Milwaukee’s Miller Park, which now goes by American Family Field. The game was tied at 7-all after 11 innings. The announcement was made after it looked like there was going to be a 12th inning that the game was going down as a tie and that no 12th inning, or subsequent inning(s), would be played, which got a resounding boo by the fans in attendance.

Before I forget it, congratulations not only to the NL All-Stars, but also kudos to Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who won the 2025 Home Run Derby on July 14. Because he’s playing in a smaller market, not a lot of people are aware that Raleigh is leading MLB with 38 homers and 82 runs batted in. He is on pace for hitting 76 homers, which would break the current single-season HR record, currently held by Barry Bonds — who hit 73 in 2001. However, some MLB critics say Bonds’ homer record was aided by performance enhancing drugs. Nonetheless, Bonds’ 73 homers in 2001 is still in the record book as MLB’s highest homer total for a season.

With that said, it’s on to the “traditional” second half of the season.

Thunder Duo To Get Homecoming Welcome on Thursday in Fort Smith This is just a reminder that two players from the 2025 National Basketball Association champion Oklahoma City Thunder — Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Joe, who are both Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside High School graduates and former Arkansas Razorbacks — are going to get a homecoming celebration on Thursday in “The Fort” with a downtown celebration.

I already know of some Sequoyah County people going to be in attendance, but I’m not going to “spill the beans” as to who they are, LOL!!!!

WWE ‘Partnering’ with Big 12 Conference It was only a matter of time before an organization like the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is setting up a unique “partnership” with the Big 12 Conference for football.

It was announced on July 9 that the weekly episode of “Friday Night Smackdown,” which airs every Friday night on USA Network, is going to have venues on Friday nights where there will be a Big 12 Conference football game the following day.

There will be four such venues:

• Aug. 22 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, before the Aug. 23 Iowa State-Kansas State game in the land of shamrocks.

• Oct. 3 at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati prior to the Oct. 4 Iowa State-Cincinnati game at historic Nippert Stadium.

• Oct. 24 at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Ariz., before the Houston-Arizona State game the next day at Sun Devil Stadium.

• Oct. 31 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, the home of the Utah Jazz, on the night prior to the Cincinnati-Utah game.

You have to wonder how many such “partnerships” will happen with other conferences such as the Southeastern Conference, the Big 10 Conference and/or the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Congrats to Scottie

Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler, who won his first British Open, or as they say in the British Isles “The Open Championship,” on Sunday, beating Harris English by four shots.

It was Scheffler’s fourth major golf tournament victory, and he became the second golfer to win the British Open while ranked No. 1 in the world. The other golfer to do that feat was Tiger Woods.

Way to go, Scottie!

••• Seeley is the sports editor of the Vian Tenkiller News. He can be reached by calling (918) 7754433, Ext. 139 or by emailing him at davids@ cookson.news.