I’ve always thought Bud Selig has done some questionable things as a comissioner, but far and away the stupidest thing he has ever done is to make the All Star game decide homefield advantage. We saw that perfectly again last night. What in the hell will any of those National League All Stars who were stuck out there in the 11th 12th and 13th innings get out of winning the all star game? Aaron Cook certainly wasn’t going to benefit, and God knows Adrian Gonzalez, Nate McLouth and Christian Guzman aren’t going to be affected by home field advantage in the World Series.
I understand that these guys are still playing for their pride and aren’t going to throw the game, but why the hell can’t we just leave the game as it was, an exhibition? It seemed to work just fine from 1933 until 2002. And then the midsummers classic changed because “this time it counts.” Which is honestly just a load of shit, because it still doesn’t count unless you’re one of two teams, and even then it barely counts, its just frustrating as all get out. It reduces the relevancy of the regular season and puts a prime on a pointless exhibition game which is decided by players, most of whom won’t even be playing baseball come October.
And then we have all the issue of certain pitchers being unable to go for long periods of time, or at all, which makes them essentially useless, not exactly something you want when trying to decide homefield advantage. This was seen perfectly last night when both Brandon Webb and Scott Kazmir were basically only able to throw one inning. I almost wish Brad Lidge didn’t suck and give up the game winning run so we could have seen the look of sheer horror on Bud Seligs face when he had to decide where to go from there, because there were no pitchers left on either side.
If we’re going to play the game like it means something, then the managers shouldn’t try to play by Little League rules and get everyone pitching, hitting and fielding, they should put out a roster that is going to win, and those who don’t make it into that roster be damned, these managers (well not Clint Hurdle) have a vested interest in winning home field advantage.
The All-Star Game is a great event, I’m a huge fan of it, but when MLB tries to turn it into something that it isn’t, then I start to have a problem with it. Why can’t we just give home field advantage to the team with the best record during the regular season and leave the All-Star Game as an exhibition and enjoy seeing the best players in the game face off against each other in friendly competition?
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