For a moment, forget about all the Hall of Fame elements that other people have seen in Javier Báez. The Manny Ramirez swing. The Gary Sheffield bat speed. Giancarlo Stanton’s power. Roberto Alomar on defense and Willie Mays on the bases.



Cubs manager Joe Maddon tried to explain Baez in rock star terms. But Báez — who was born in Puerto Rico in 1992 — hadn’t heard of The Beatles.



To truly understand what Báez has become — El Mago, the rare crossover personality who transcends Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. — just listen to a dad in the Chicago suburbs trying to get home in time to watch his son’s baseball games.



“It’s like Steph Curry in basketball where kids can kind of relate to him,” Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde said. “He’s not the biggest guy out there and he makes the game so fun to watch because you just never know what...