Every year, complaints are made about the All Star Game, and they follow three primary courses. I’ll adress all three individually, because as it turns out, I don’t have a problem with any of the three “issues”. To wit:
Fan voting screws everything up: Like it or not, this is the “All Star” game, not the “Best players in the first half of the season” game. This is one of the few events that is almost entirely fan oriented, and fans get to have a choice in watching who they want to watch. So what if Derek Jeter is always there? He’s popular, like it or not.
The game shouldn’t count for anything: Nobody watches the Pro Bowl. Nobody watches the NBA or NHL All Star games, Why? Because they aren’t real games. Real competition is fun. Exhibition is boring. And frankly, there really isn’t a good way to decide homefield anyways, because the leagues play each other so infrequently, and individual divisions play among themselves with more regularity, meaning teams often have disparate strengths of schedule. This is one game that puts someone from every AL team against someone from every NL team, and there aren’t any flawed scheduling practices involved. Not only that, it gives a little gravitas and watchability to an otherwise unwatchable game.
Every team is represented: I LOVE that every team is represented. I remember back in the late 90s when the Twins were atrocious, the best part of the All Star Game was the brief moment that Ron Coomer came up for an at bat, seeing him compete with the stars of the league was great for a kid who was still a fan of the Twins. I have to imagine for young Pirates or Royals fans, it has to be great seeing their favorites competing on national television is still a joy in an otherwise dismal season. And as long as we are making it a game that determines what league is better, don’t we WANT to evaluate them from top to bottom?
Anyways, this, to me, is one of the ways that baseball is better than other sports. Every game from the first of the season to the very last game of the World Series counts. Why do so many have a problem with this?
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