THE MODERATOR: Ned Yost is in the interview room and we will take a first question for him.
Q. Ned, was there ever any question about using Cole Hamels after the mishap he suffered today?
NED YOST: Was there any what?
Q. Did you know about his mishap?
NED YOST: I saw he had a BAND-AID on and I didn't know what happened.
Q. Fell in his hotel room.
NED YOST: I didn't. He looked good to me.
Q. Ned, your decision to remove David Ortiz from the game, or when he was removed from the game, was that planned ahead of time or just circumstance?
NED YOST: No, that was planned ahead of time. I told David before the game, I said, look this is my plan. I'm going to give you two at-bats, and if you get on your second at-bat I'm going to pitch run for you and give you an opportunity to walk off the field. If you don't get a hit in your second at-bat I'm going to send you back up for your third at-bat. When they announce your name, I'm going to call timeout and pinch-hit for you. In a position player, you can send them out in the field and give them -- but with a DH it's different. But what he didn't know is I wanted the team to go out and meet him. So that was a cool moment I thought.
Q. Ned, you had a historically young team out there in your starting lineup. When you see all that young talent together, how does it strike you for the game today and tomorrow?
NED YOST: Well, it's just incredible the young players that are out there and their level of talent. I've always loved young players. I've always loved their energy, their excitement. We had four first-time All-Stars, and this is a phenomenal experience for these young guys. It's so cool once you go one time you never not want to go again because it's so much fun. You know, you get 34 guys from, you know, different organizations and you're screaming at a guy last week and they all walk through that door and they become a team, and that's the coolest thing about it. Then, you know, we'll all go home tomorrow and on Friday we will be screaming at each other again. But, you know, we play for a common cause and that's home field advantage for the American League and guys buy into it.
Q. Ned, any advantage to Hosmer and Perez having gained some with playing with Cueto last year?
NED YOST: Not really. I don't think so. They know Johnny. They know what he was going to do. But I mean, you can still know somebody, but you still have to be able to execute. And I was so proud of Hos when he hit that ball and Salvi when he hit it. I felt like a proud papa there in the second inning after those two guys gave us the lead, and I was really excited. It's been a long time since I've been that proud of two players in a moment like that, and that was really special for me.
Q. Ned, just to build off that point on Hosmer winning the MVP, reflections on his growth and his career and he's come up on the big stage in so many moments in the postseason and now here in the All-Star Game.
NED YOST: Yeah, he's just taking his game that next level. We had eight All-Stars last year, and it was really, really hard not to put him in that final vote. I thought that Cabrera had won the vote, and Teixeira had better numbers than he did. I couldn't. I knew Moose's mom was really, really sick and I wanted to have her see Moose play in an All-Star Game, and that left Hos out in the cold. But I was going to do anything I could do to get him on this team this year, and his numbers warranted it. He won the vote as a starter and now to be the MVP it's just a great accomplishment for him.
Q. You had a unique All-Star in Steven Wright. Given his journey, was it disappointing that you weren't able to get him in the game?
NED YOST: Well, the whole object is to win the game and he provided so much depth and he was the only guy that could go multiple innings, and he could go two, three, maybe push him four if we needed to. Yeah, I wish I could have got Stephen Vogt in and Colome in and I wish I could have got Steven Wright in. But, you know, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to win the ball game.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.