Clearing The Bases

The Major League Baseball All-Star game is this coming Tuesday.  Now I love baseball, am a big Yankee fan, never miss a game, and will watch the ASG, but the format is just insane.  With the way the selections are set up now and how the game plays out, this should be nothing more than an exhibition game for the fans and nothing else.  It should not “count” as commissioner Bud Selig and the TV networks have made it become.  I understand the TV ratings declined massively over the years, but haven’t they for most things on television as there is just more competition from cable?  To have this game determine home field advantage in the World Series is just moronic in my opinion and I will state my five reasons why below:

• Having the fans vote.  This is fine when there is nothing on the line but if you continue to have this game mean something, then the fans can have nothing to do with it.  Now we’re playing favorites.  How else do you explain Derek Jeter making the team?  Jeter may not even be the best shortstop on his own team, more or less the best SS in the American League.  It’s a weak position, no doubt, but Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox, J.J. Hardy of the Orioles, Yunel Esobar of the Blue Jays, Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and a few others have had better seasons, and now Jeter is taking a spot that should go to one of them.  If the game didn’t mean anything and was an exhibition, than you can put Jeter on it to celebrate a Hall of Fame career and his quest for 3000 hits.  The National League also has a starter that doesn’t deserve to be there in the Phillies Placido Polanco, but at least there you can make an argument that no third baseman deserved the nod until the Cubs Aramis Ramirez went ballistic the past two weeks.

• Each team has to have a representative.   This is the MLB All-Star game, winner determines which league gets home field advantage, than why on Earth are we selecting players who aren’t all-stars.  Once again it’s for TV ratings, this way fans in those cities with only one player selected will watch the game.  These players are also likely to play late in the games when more deserving players have already come out, and therefore these non all-stars will determine the winner of the game, just crazy.  What’s even more crazy is because of this rule, more deserving players won’t make the game.  How does the National League not have Andrew McCutchen on the team, that’s a travesty.  This is an All-Star game, either you’re good enough to be on the team, or you’re not.  I can live with players not being on the team because there just aren’t enough spots for all of the great players, not because some average to good player has to eat up a spot because he is the best player on his team, and sometimes that lone representative is not even the best player on that team, but the best player at a position that needs filled on the roster (Aaron Crow).

• Starting players leave after a few innings.  If we’re playing to win then shouldn’t the best players play the entire game?  Don’t we want the best players to determine who is going to win the game?  Maybe not the starting pitchers as you don’t want to take away a start for their team, but there is no reason for position players to come out of the game.  Once again though the idea seems to be to get everyone to play, not to win the game.  This process seemed to change in the mid-80s or so, up until then the starters played most of if not the entire game.

• If you pitch on the Sunday before the ASG, you can’t pitch in the ASG.  I understand you wouldn’t want said pitcher to pitch multiple innings and risk injury, but it is his throw day, not sure why he couldn’t pitch one inning or at least to one batter.  This year the American League will be robbed of five of their best starters, the Tigers Justin Verlander, the Rays James Shields, the Angels Dan Haren, the Mariners Felix Hernandez and the Yankees CC Sabathia.  That’s pretty much an entire pitching staff.  The National League will also lose the Phillies Cole Hamels, and the Giants Matt Cain.  Just doesn’t seem right.

• Home field determined.  For all the reasons mentioned above, the game should not decide which league will get home field advantage in the World Series.  It’s not like the players care all that much about it as there will be quite a few who will beg out of the game with minor injuries and another bunch who will leave the game early to catch a flight once they are removed from the game.  Not like they are hanging around waiting to see who wins.  Seems to me the team with the best record should get home field or at least the league that wins interleague play, but no, then the ASG wouldn’t mean anything.