Swing and a Miss: The MLB All-Star Game

“This Time It Counts.” That’s the bill of goods Major League Baseball is selling its fans now. Since 2003 the league that wins the All-Star Game is awarded home field advantage for the World Series. This abomination has been discussed, voted on, and approved 3 separate times, proving that it wasn’t a mistake and that it has been, in fact, deliberate and on purpose. Remember, this is an exhibition game that doesn’t count towards anything important until recently. Its main purpose is to honor those that have performed well for the first half of the season and to entertain fans with silly but amusing games like the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Futures Game.

The managers are not voted on but rather chosen the year before as the two managers that get their team to the World Series. The American League is represented by Ron Washington of my Texas Rangers and, as the manager, has decided to let Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers take the mound as the starting pitcher, a very prestigious honor. The National League manager is Tony La Russa. Tony La Russa retired last year. He has also chosen Matt Cain to start the game for his league over R.A. Dickey. I cannot put into words the lunacy of these two things, but I’ll try.

On Tuesday night a man will sit on the bench, calling the shots, making the lineup changes (of which there are many to try to incorporate as many players as possible), and doing his best to ensure his side wins and therefore establishes home field advantage for the most important set of games of the year. But this man is no longer involved in baseball. How is it that we’re letting a man with no dog in the race over-manage (as that is what Tony La Russa tends to do) such an important exhibition game? If “This Time It Counts,” can we not have a manager making the decisions that has the potential to reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of the outcome of this faux game? This apathetic attitude is most evident in his starting pitcher selection. R.A. Dickey beats Matt Cain in almost every important pitching stat except one (perfect games thrown) and is one of the best stories to come out of baseball in a long time to boot. Use the Google if you don’t believe me.

And this year, MLB is allowing the players to tweet during the game from the dugout. I thought we were supposed to be taking this thing seriously. Fans shouldn’t have to wait out a stoppage in play because C.J. Wilson is busy telling the world, once again, how much he loves dancing and that his life is so much better than mine because he’s “about to toe the rubber and sling the rock at the All Star Game, Bro!” I understand Baseball trying to increase viewership and therefore ad revenue but #Failure.

The funny thing is, if Baseball would just take the game for what it is, a fun and entertaining way to recognize superstars, all the rest of the complaints go away. I’d love to see a player whip out his phone as he’s circling the bases to take TwitPic of the landing spot where his homerun reached the outstretched arms of a thousand outfield fans. Have a pitcher tweet out the type of pitch he’s about to throw right before he throws it. That’s great entertainment. But don’t tell me the game means something so game-changingly important in the same tweet.