Ebel named to MLB All-Star training staff
PHOTO COURTESY OF KYSports TV
1984 South Ripley graduate Brian Ebel made his second MLB All-Star Game appearance on Tuesday night, serving as one of two athletic trainers for the American League All-Stars.
Millions of eyes focused on the Major League Baseball All-Star Game this past Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas and it’s quite possible that many longtime Ripley County residents saw a familiar face as South Ripley graduate Brian Ebel was a part of the American League All-Star staff.
Ebel, who graduated from South Ripley in 1984, currently serves as the head trainer of the Baltimore Orioles and was one of two American League trainers chosen to serve on the All-Star training staff.
The All-Star honor is the second for Ebel who also served on the training staff as part of the 2007 MLB All-Star Game in San Francisco according to MLB.com. That same report also noted that he had served as a trainer for the MLB Taiwan All-Star Series in 2011, serving under team manager Bruce Bochy, who led Tuesday evening’s American League squad.
Ebel graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1988 and has since served 40 years with the Baltimore Orioles organization, 28 of which have been with the big league club. He was named head trainer for the Orioles in 2017 and most recently was inducted into the Maryland Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in 2022. In addition to that honor, he has received numerous accolades including MLB Training Staff of the Year and has been a member of several professional organizations in the athletic training ranks.
“It’s a great honor, and any time you’re asked by MLB and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society to be involved in something like that, it’s just a big honor,” Ebel told Orioles beat writer Jake Rill. “So really honored to be asked to do it again for this year’s game.”
The Orioles currently sport the third-best record in baseball at 58-38 and the club sat in first place in the American League East heading into the All-Star Break. Baltimore boasts one of the best young rosters in the game and Ebel’s efforts have allowed that talent to remain healthy through the first three months of the season as the big club now looks to make a major push towards the MLB Playoffs this fall.
Ebel served on the American League staff Tuesday night alongside Texas Rangers head trainer Matt Lucero.
Baltimore visited Cincinnati in early May, allowing Ebel a homecoming back to the area as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Reds. The O’s begin the second half of the season on Friday night, staying in Arlington to face the Texas Rangers. They will go to Miami for a trio of matchups against the Marlins beginning on July 23.
