Baseball’s Common Sense, Like Elvis, Has Left The Building

The way the starting MLB position players were chosen was bad enough when fans were permitted to vote 35 times for their favorite players. This year they were allowed to vote five times per day, for a total of 130+ per month. Does anyone really believe that all four of the National League (NL) infielders were the best at their positions, or was it because they all came from a big market team, the Chicago Cubs?

The last five All-Star Games used an average of 60 players. Using that many players in an All-Star Game is worse than watching a Spring Training game. That tells you all you need to know about how important the game is to the managers and players, even if attached to it is a World Series home-field advantage. Not very! Now the game is not really about winning, or even showcasing its best players, it’s about how many can be seen on TV, for just one out.

Unfortunately, the 2014 and 2015 games mirror what is happening throughout both Leagues. In 2014 there were 22 strikeouts (SO) of All-Star batters from a 51 out game, since the AL didn’t have to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning; and in 2015, 24 SO – including a record for the AL in a 54 out game. That’s 43% and 44% of the All-Star outs, with no pitchers batting. In both cases, pathetic!

In 2012, the All-Star game drew a record-low TV rating. The Games in 2013 and 2014 got a bump-up from the retirements of long-time Yankees, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, both of whom will probably be elected to the Hall of Fame on their first ballots. In 2015, MLB even let banned, Pete Rose, take part in pre-game festivities on the field, evidently to give another bump to the ratings. It didn’t work as a new record low was established. 2016 kept the slide.

Please name another professional league that uses the winner of their All-Star Game to decide a home field advantage for their championship game or series. There aren’t any, because they are all EXHIBITION games that use special rules not permitted during the regular season and nobody cares who wins.

MLB can do what they will, but under any circumstances, no matter how the teams are selected or the game played, winning a watered down, useless, EXHIBITION, All-Star Game, should not be used as the criterion for a World Series home-field advantage. The World Series home-field advantage, is an easy fix. The League that wins the Series should have the advantage for the following year’s games. A League should be rewarded for winning games that actually count for something. Just use some Common Sense.

https://youtu.be/C0qBiUlsIh4