I’m on record as saying that I like the idea of making the all-star game have a purpose. It gives a game that is there really for the kids a little added juice, and really, there isn’t another truly fair way to give a team home field advantage: Schedules are unbalanced and there is no way to determine which league is weaker, even with interleague play, as with interleague play teams don’t have a chance to play the same teams. Having home field played for in the All Star game adds some intrigue to the game and is as good as any way to give home field to a particular league.
But really, the game is for young fans, as I have already stated. It’s one of the few times when cold analytical analysis probably isn’t such a good thing as it comes to baseball. It’s a chance for the 2nd grade fans from Overland Park to see that their Royals are certainly on the same stage as the best players in the game, but it’s also a chance for those same fans to watch the most popular players take the field at the same time (It’s the all-STAR game, not the all-best players game). And that’s what it is about, to me, having the stars of every tieam show up on the same day.
So anyways, I like the All-Star Game as the perfect blend of pageantry and baseball. I’m glad that I got to watch it last night, and I’m glad players like Michael Cuddyer got to go.
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