All-Star Thoughts

Baseball’s All-Star Game just doesn’t do it for a lot of us anymore. There was a time when it was exciting to anticipate the Mid-Summer Classic. Watching Schmidt, Parker, Rose, Rice, Jackson and their contemporaries run out for introductions was exhilarating. Now watching Ramirez, Jeter, A-Rod, Pujols, and the cast of 2000’s doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal. I’ve identified a couple possibilities why.

Deity Loss: Growing up watching Carlton, Hunter, Palmer, and local do-gooders Reuschel, Sutter and Swisher was exciting because these guys were Baseball Gods. The public didn’t know anything about them besides what was written in the national papers and what you saw on the Game of the Week. These guys were perfect. They weren’t twittering, they weren’t being suspended, they weren’t on TV EVERY DAY thanks to ESPN, MLB Channel, MLB Extra Inning Package where you can watch them strikeout, ground out weakly and give up four runs in one inning. What we knew of the All-Stars from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s were that they were invincible.

Familiarity: Up until the ‘90s the only time you saw a National League pitcher face an American League hitter and vice versa was in Spring Training (when nothing matters) or in the World Series (when the stakes are at the highest). How would Bench do against Fidrych? Don’t know unless we watch the All-Star game. Now the NL pitching greats have made their way through the AL for the last 13 years. Maddux vs. Mauer? Been there, done that.

NL Sucks: As a devout Cub and National League fan, it is rather disheartening to suffer through fourteen years without a win. We’ve been blown out, we’ve blown saves, we’ve thrown the ball away. Not a major factor since as Cub fans we’ve seen the same exact thing for the last 102 years, but still it’s there.

Price of Getting Older: With age come more responsibilities. Between the ages of 8 and 22 there wasn’t much to focus on other than baseball. Oh, sure there was school, but not during the summer. Middling jobs, but nothing that required things to be brought home. Certainly there were no girls to pull us away from memorizing the hitting and pitching statistics of every National League batter and pitcher. Now there are careers and children (soccer, basketball, little league) and wives. We catch a few innings if we’re fortunate. The fifth outfielder for Pittsburgh? I don’t know, is Doug Frobel still playing?

Perceived Importance: Here is where Bud Selig needs to crawl in a hole in embarrassment. For all the good that Selig has brought to the game (quick! someone please tell me something that Selig has done that’s good for the game) he has screwed up the All-Star Game more than it already was. Because of the tie in 2002, Bud felt compelled to “correct” the game. So he decides that home field advantage for the CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE SEASON should be decided by a bunch of guys who a) were selected by the fans and b) are getting playing time not based on their talent compared to their peers, but based on the fact that the manager wants to make sure everyone gets into the game, and c) in some cases, were selected simply because someone from their team HAD to be present.

If this is an Exhibition Game, then nothing but pride should be on the line. Here’s a novel thought. How about allowing the team with the best regular season record to have home field advantage? They do it in every other sport, why not baseball?

Here’s another fix. Don’t have an All-Star from every team if every team doesn’t have an All-Star. Robert Fick was never an All-Star based on performance. But in 2002 Detroit sucked so bad, they had to send a .270 hitter that year to represent the team. If the game is to have meaning, then the best players should be on the team and the best of the best should play the whole game. Aaron, Mays, Musial and Williams used to play all nine innings. Their careers didn’t seem to suffer by playing an extra game. If the point is to win the game, then play to win. If it’s a Summer Break Victory Lap, then acknowledge it as such and don’t have the World Series be involved in the outcome.

Game time tonight 7:00pm. I’ll be there a little after 9pm when Spongebob Squarepants goes to bed.