The Flaw-Star Game

I’m gonna go out on a big lim here and suggest that the title above is probably my worst one yet. Yeah, that sounds about right. But I suppose disasterous games call for absurd headlines. Around te 12th inning, I joked with Barney after Fox showed Bud Selig in a box at the Stadium, that the commish was so exhausted he was ready to call his second tie game. Hey, at least I would’ve gotten some more sleep last night.

So much about this game and the way they have it set up pisses me off. A lot of the concepts surrounding the All Star "weekend" (who decided it should be a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday?) are nice and good, but MLB has put them together in the worst of ways. The fact of the matter was that players and managers simply weren’t taking the game seriously throughout the 90′s. Essentially, these 3 or 4 days off were just that to these "All-Stars". They could care less about representing their respective leagues in the Mid Summer Classic. I mean what did it accomplish? So, that’s why Selig’s agenda to make the game meaningful by awarding home field advantage in the World Series to the league that won, in theory makes sense.

But with such an important stake now set in the heart of this contest, why is the fate of the starting lineups put in the hands of the fans? Sure, these are the men and women who keep the league afloat by coming to the games day in and night out (with the exception of the Marlins of course), but these people aren’t intelligent enough to select qualified players. Then again, we can’t put this job in the hands of the players because then the rosters will be filled with the Jason Variteks of the world. So who knows whose fit for this position, but it sure as hell isn’t the voting public. If something like home field is up for grabs here, put the roster spots in the hands of the coaches and let them select who they want. And while we’re here, let the managers take as many players and reserves as they want, simply to prevent an event like last night’s. When pitchers are coming off of two days rest their owners don’t want them throwing in the All-Star game, it’s just stupid. Make sure there is an adequate number of relievers and position players in case of a 15 inning, 4 hour 50 minute debacle like we went through. This game can work, but Selig and his cohorts have a lot of work to do to get it there.