So it’s the tenth year that the All-Star Game actually mattered in terms of season play for Major League Baseball. The winning league gets the home-field advantage, as opposed to the previous system which alternated the home-field advantage between leagues. The opinions range from loving the idea to hating the idea to the holy heavens, and not really much in between.
The argument in favor of adding the value to the All-Star game is that the expedition game will never end in an atrocious tie that we experienced a decade ago on that fateful Milwaukee night while at the same time will pretty much require for the players to put forth an effort to win.
Can I please repeat my disdain for that All-Star Game that ended in a....ugh...tie?
This required effort will prevent the All-Star Game from transforming into the atrocious Pro Bowl on the NFL. Because let’s be honest, baseball’s all-star game is far better than that of the NBA and the NFL. That way the viewers get their money’s worth, as well the advertisers and the fans that watch the game.
Now, the argument against the inclusion of value to the game is that it is pretty darn unfair to determine who has more home games in a World Series with an exhibition match. They say it’s not fair that a bad performance by the American League led to the Rangers having to lose the World Series in St. Louis last season. It also took away the fun and carefree attitude of the game that we used to experience back in the day. The baseball players don’t really get a break---and with 162 games in the season, we can definitely argue that they deserve one.
But in my opinion, the biggest reason behind the dropping of ratings is because the inclusion of interleague play, which damaged and tarnished the mystique of the drastically different American and National League. The rarity of seeing a Yankee go up against a Pirate is diminished mildly because now Interleague exists, and it occurs several weeks a year. It has nothing to do with the players involved, because the talent pool has expanded everywhere, and we get about a dozen teams that compete until August. But as long as Interleague exists, the All-Star Game loses a little interest.
For me, I believe we should remove the value of the All-Star Game, make it a fully fan-run voting process, and hand home-field advantage to the team whose league won the year before. This will add more interest to the World Series, as teams like the Braves and Marlins can (just for a few days) actually root for the Cardinals for the chance to get the Home Field the next year. But the All-Star game should be back to its carefree fun games, even if it won’t increase the ratings.
MLB, saving the All-Star Game is next to impossible because of the way the world works today. If you want to make it more of an experience, it requires destroying interleague, eliminating the value tag, and truly giving the fans the ultimate power to vote everybody in. And then throw in some surprises like cameo appearances, performances prior to the game, and just a more in-depth look to the players that are in the All-Star game.
There are ways to improve the Midsummer Classic.
Having it determine the World Series home field?
Nah.
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