Former Lakeside of Seattle star ‘excited and grateful’ to play in All-Star Game in hometown
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2023 All-Star Game in Seattle
Seattle’s T-Mobile Park is the focus of the baseball world this week as MLB’s top players gather for the 2023 All-Star Game. The TNT sports staff brings you all the action.
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Corbin Carroll was already planning to attend this week’s MLB All-Star Game.
The former Lakeside of Seattle standout, now a starting outfielder for the Diamondbacks as a rookie, supposed he would return to his hometown and enjoy the All-Star festivities at T-Mobile Park.
“I already had a flight here, because I was planning on coming back regardless,” Carroll said Monday afternoon, sitting just beyond the wall in center field at the same ballpark he grew up watching big league baseball games in.
Carroll did indeed return to Seattle for the midsummer break — but he won’t be watching as a fan when the All-Star Game is played Tuesday night.
He is set to start in left field and bat eighth for the National League team after earning an All-Star selection in his first full season in the majors.
“It’s definitely hard to put into words, but I think the two elements of it are just excited and grateful,” Carroll said. “Excited to be able to share this with the community that helped me get here. It’s a huge support system, and just being able to have a lot more of them be here and be able to enjoy this game — it’s special.”
Carroll grew up playing baseball in Seattle, attended Mariners games with family and friends, and starred for the Lions in high school, helping the program reach the Class 3A state playoffs twice, including a school-best second-place finish his freshman season in 2016.
He was drafted by Arizona in the first round at No. 16 overall in 2019, and debuted with the Diamondbacks last August, days after his 22nd birthday.
This season, Carroll has put up impressive numbers, hitting .289/.366/.549 with 63 runs scored, 20 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs, 48 RBI and 26 stolen bases through 86 games.
He is an early contender in the NL Rookie of the Year race, and now an All-Star — in his hometown, with his picture posted above the left field entrance to T-Mobile Park this week, set to start in his first All-Star Game alongside baseball’s best.
“To be able to be among those players and start this game, it’s special for me,” he said. “It means a lot that fans supported me in that way and voted me as a starter. … And to do it in Seattle just means that much more.”
Family, friends, and the Lakeside community have shared in the excitement with Carroll.
“Just having some people reach out that I haven’t talked to in a while, whether it was a classmate, a teammate or a coach, a teacher, it was pretty cool,” he said.
As for the game Tuesday night, Carroll wants to soak in the moment.
“I think it’s just all about having a blast here, and getting to hang out with these guys, learn from them, talk to them,” he said. “That’s the piece I’m excited about.”
He also expects crowd energy to be high at T-Mobile Park, which is hosting All-Star Week for the first time since 2001.
“I got to see the playoff game here last year, so I’ve seen this new wave of Seattle baseball a little bit, and the fans that that has brought, and expecting this place to be rocking tomorrow,” Carroll said.
The ballpark surely will be, too, when Carroll takes the field as an All-Star for the first time.
“I’m just grateful and excited,” he said. “It’s super cool. I think it’s going to be something I’ll remember forever.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Former Lakeside of Seattle star ‘excited and grateful’ to play in All-Star Game in hometown."
