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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. Becoming Big Star Baseball Needs

Acuña had eight home runs in his last eight games before being intentionally beaned last nightGETTY IMAGES

Braves LF Ronald Acuña Jr. is "becoming a mega-star" in his first MLB season, as he is both entertaining and "marketable," according to Gabriel Burns of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, who wrote under the header, "Ronald Acuña Is The Superstar Braves -- And Baseball -- Needed." MLB needs "more excitement" and it needs to "connect with the younger audiences." The 20-year-old Acuña, who had eight home runs in his last eight games before being intentionally beaned on the first pitch of last night's matchup against the Marlins, has been "gift-wrapped to the baseball -- and sports -- world." MLB is increasingly filled with "young studs, but none may hold Acuña’s lure." While Acuña may not play in a huge market like N.Y. or L.A., he "doesn’t need to be." He could make the Braves as "nationally pertinent as they’ve been since the TBS days" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/15). REALSPORT's Sam Murray wrote Acuña has the "talent to become the future of the Braves, the National League, and maybe even the future of Major League Baseball." Acuña is someone who can "easily become the new face of baseball if he can sustain his early excellence" (REALSPORT101.com, 8/15).

A STAR THE SPORT NEEDS: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince notes some people "complain about baseball's stars not being more marketable." That is why MLB needs "more Acuñas, not fewer." Due to the "excitement they engender, the eyes they attract, players with his sizzle and his skillset might be every bit as important to the league itself as they are to their own teams' wins columns" (MLB.com, 8/16). MLB Network's Greg Amsinger said he knows MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is "excited to see the game getting younger with fresh faces from different cultural backgrounds becoming stars." Amsinger: "Ronald Acuña Jr. could be one of the next great superstars of the game" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 8/15). ESPN.com's David Schoenfield wrote when someone like Acuña is "this good this fast, you have clearly established not only the possibility of becoming the best player in the game, but comparisons to other 20-year-old stars like Ken Griffey Jr. or Mike Trout no longer feel outrageous or silly" (ESPN.com, 8/15).

BUSH LEAGUE MOVE FROM UREÑA : ESPN's Mike Golic notes if Acuña is forced to miss any time as a result of being hit last night, it is "devastating for the lifeblood of your future." Golic: "This is a guy you want on the diamond right now. Based on the streak he had been on, this is as hot a name as baseball has" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 8/16). The AP's Paul Newberry writes Marlins P Jose Ureña "deserves to be suspended for the rest of the season" after hitting Acuña. MLB "isn't exactly flourishing at the moment, especially with young people," and a player like Acuña could help to "reverse that trend." However, that will not happen "if he has to step to the plate after every homer wondering if he's going to get plunked again" (AP, 8/16). YAHOO SPORTS' Jeff Passan writes MLB is "demonstrably worse when great players do not play." When they "do not play because of invisible and illogical conventions that rooted themselves decades ago and are begging for a Costco-sized tub of Roundup, it only exacerbates the embarrassment of it" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/16). ESPN's Keith Olbermann: "Let’s have a little leadership, MLB. Suspend Ureña for the season and Mattingly for a week. Let the union sue. This is the revenge of the mediocre against the gifted. Enough" (TWITTER.com, 8/15).

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