Dillon Dingler joins Stark County legends with MLB All-Star selection
· Yahoo Sports
Jackson High School graduate Dillon Dingler of the Detroit Tigers has joined select Stark County baseball company.
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Dingler, a catcher, was named to his first Major League Baseball All-Star team on Saturday, July 4. The game is in Philadelphia at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 14. It will be televised by Fox.
Dingler is just the third Stark County native to be selected to the MLB All-Star Game, and the first in nearly 50 years.
Based on Repository research, Yankees legend and Canton native Thurman Munson is the last county player to be selected. He was a seven-time All-Star, with his last selection coming in 1978. Another Yankee, 1940s and 50s star Tommy Henrich of Massillon, is the other Stark County player to be selected to the All-Star Game.
“He's playing at the top of the game at a position that's really hard to play, and I say that with all respect to every position, as catcher-biased as I am,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told the Detroit Free Press. “He's doing incredible things.”
Dingler is in just his second full MLB season with the Tigers after being called up to the squad late in the 2024 season. He's helped them reach the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.
Last year, Dingler won a gold glove and helped the Tigers win a wild card playoff series at Cleveland, hitting the go-ahead home run in the decisive third game of the best-of-three series.
Dillon Dingler's stats
At the 80-game mark of the season, Dingler had a career-best 19 home runs, 59 RBIs, 18 doubles and two triples. Only two Tigers in history have equaled those marks through 80 games: Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg (1935, 1937, 1946) and Rocky Colavito (1961).
"It's awesome," Dingler told the Detroit Free Press. I'm super-excited. It [shows]hard work pays off. ... Growing up, you see All-Stars. It's kind of surreal now to know that I'll be in that group. So, it's really cool."
Dingler is just fourth Tigers catcher to make the All-Star Game in the last 30 years, and the first to do so in 15 years. Alex Avila was selected in 2011 after Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez was selected four straight years (2004-07) and Brad Ausmus was picked in 1999.
“A player who came up with an enormous defensive reputation, won a Gold Glove, caught at the highest moments for us,” Hinch told the Detroit Free Press. “Offensively, he's been as close to carrying us as player in our lineup, and he's been very consistent with, with very little rest.”
Dingler was a multi-sport star at Jackson, graduating in 2017 after winning state titles in basketball and baseball. He then starred in baseball at Ohio State before the Tigers drafted him in the second round in 2020. He was one of four former Stark County baseball standouts to play in the majors this season.
Stark County natives selected to the MLB All-Star Game
- Thurman Munson (7): 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978.
- Tommy Henrich (5): 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950.
- Dillon Dingler (1): 2026.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Dillon Dingler joins Stark County legends with MLB All-Star selection