Of the three Boston Red Sox players named to the 2025 All-Star Game, Aroldis Chapman was the only one who opted to play.

As a result, the veteran closer found himself playing a pivotal role in a unique, historic, and delightfully zany 95th Midsummer Classic.

Tuesday evening’s game in Atlanta had already seen its share of firsts by the time Chapman took the mound in the bottom of the ninth.

The automated ball-strike challenge system (ABS) made its Midsummer Classic debut and changed the game immediately. With one out in the bottom of the first, home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna called a ball on Tigers’ Tarik Skubal’s 0-2 pitch to Padres’ Manny Machado. The reigning AL Cy Young and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh both tapped their heads, the sign to request a challenge. The battery was correct, and it became the first overturned call in the contest; the AL went 3-for-3 in challenges, the NL 1-for-2.

Major League Baseball began testing ABS in the minor leagues in ’21, and gave it a trial run at several Cactus and Grapefruit League ballparks during spring training this year. The system, which gives each team two challenges — only to be initiated by the batter, pitcher, or catcher, and retained if successful — could become a regular-season fixture as early as next year.

Speaking of, it was the first time in six years that players wore their own regular-season uniforms in the Midsummer Classic. Reviving the rule that governed the game from 1930-2019 was met with widespread approval from players and fans.

Thus it was in his Red Sox uniform that Chapman watched the National League build a 6-0 lead through the first six innings, and his American League teammates hack it to pieces.

In All-Star Game history, only four position players earned starter honors in each of their first two seasons: Joe DiMaggio, Frank Robinson, Rod Carew and Ichiro Suzuki. Pirates star Paul Skenes became the first pitcher to join their ranks when he took the mound to begin Tuesday’s contest.

Ketel Marte’s two-run double in the bottom of the first made him the first Diamondbacks player with multiple RBI in an All-Star Game. Five innings later, teammate Corbin Caroll hit the first Midsummer Classic home run in their franchise’s history.

Brent Rooker’s three-run homer in the seventh not only got the AL on the board, but was the first All-Star Game round-tripper by an A’s player this century, snapping an MLB-worst 37-year drought.

Milwaukee’s rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski pitched a scoreless top of the eighth. After just five career starts, the 23-year-old Brewers flamethrower was invited to join Team NL as a replacement, making him the first player to be named an All-Star after so few games. He also threw the nine pitches of 100 mph or faster, the most in a Midsummer Classic since Chapman threw 13 in ’15.

For Truist Park’s first-ever All-Star Game, Team AL manager Aaron Boone convinced legendary Yankees skipper Joe Torre to make a pitching change in the top of the eighth. Torre, 84, helmed the AL squad when Atlanta last hosted in 2000.

The NL still held a 6-4 lead when the ninth inning began, but back-to-back doubles by Twins’ Byron Buxton and Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. brought the AL within a run. With two outs, Guardians’ Steven Kwan ran out an infield single, and Witt motored home.

Tie game, and yet another first. According to Elias, it was the largest game-tying or go-ahead comeback in the history of the All-Star Game, breaking the record set when the NL stormed back to score five in 1955.

The NL might have had a chance to walk it off, but Chapman, 37, is having his best season over half a decade. The 16-year MLB veteran earned his eighth career All-Star selection by posting a 1.18 ERA and 58 strikeouts over 41 appearances (38 innings) in the first. His ERA is a career-best by far (previously 1.51, 2012 Reds), and he’s already finished more games (24) than in any of the last three seasons.

Chapman needed 14 pitches (11 strikes) to blaze through a 1-2-3 ninth. He handled Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (lineout), Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. (swinging strikeout), and Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, who ground the ball one foot in front of the plate and was tagged out by Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk.

Thus for the first time in baseball history, the Midsummer Classic had to be decided on a swing-off: three sluggers per league, three swings per man (no limit on pitches taken). The side with the most homers would win.

It was far from the first time an All-Star Game was tied through the end of regulation. In 13 such instances, most recently 2018, the contest went to extra innings. The swing-off was a new proviso in the current collective bargaining agreement, agreed to after the league locked the players out for 99 days during the ’21-22 offseason.

Rooker, Mariners’ Randy Arozarena, and Rays’ Jonathan Aranda stepped up to the plate for Team AL. Marlins’ Kyle Stowers, Schwarber, and Mets’ Pete Alonso represented Team NL. (The selections were predetermined, agreed to by the hitters.)

Rooker gave the AL an early lead with two homers to begin the swing-off. Arozarena made it a 3-1 advantage.

This time, it was the NL’s turn to roar back. Specifically, Schwarber, the trade deadline acquisition who once helped the ’21 Red Sox make a thrillingly unexpected run from the Wild Card to the ALCS. Three ‘Schwarbombs of 428, 461, and 382 feet gave the NL a decisive lead. When Aranda was unable to go yard in the AL’s final opportunity, there was no need for Alonso to come to the plate.

In addition to the win, Schwarber took home the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP award. It was the final first of the night; no designated hitter had ever received the honor before.

How does such a game enter the record books? No winning or losing pitcher, and a 7-6 score for Team NL, only their second victory in the last 12 summers.