I see that 15 players are not playing due to injuries. I call BS on that, the players don't give a rats ass about the game, they want to be selected since many if not all contracts have incentives for being all-stars. I doubt if I'll watch. I have no incentives! :evil:
The game has become a sideshow. I haven't watched it in years. Oddly, MLB places importance on it for home field advantage in the WS. Ballot box stuffing is shameless and encouraged. The Reds had a tacky plea for votes etched into the grass behind homeplate. Yankee announcer Michael Kay was quick to point out how "low rent" that looked on TV. Of course the Reds invented ballot box stuffing for the All Star game back in the 50's when they got their entire starting lineup in to the AS game as starters. I think that is when MLB took the voting away from the fans.
I've never been an avid fan of the All-Star game, even when I was much younger. I guess I just don't get excited about so-called showcase games in any sport. However, as I read yesterday, if you parse the 15 players who were voted onto the All-Star teams who aren't playing, you can see, with only a couple of exceptions, the justification. I believe that 6 or so are pitchers either on the DL or who started Sunday. Another several are position players who either are on the DL (e.g., Arod) or who have just come off the DL (Jeter) and want to take advantage of the down time to rest. It's not like the players who take their places are chopped liver. Each year there are many players, like McCutcheon of the Pirates, who deserve to be on the team but, because of the ballot box stuffing by other teams as George described above, they lose the popularity vote. I'm satisfied that the players who will play in the game deserve to be all-stars, regardless of how they got there.
All star games, like Saturday afternoon "games of the week" are good for those parts of the country that have no MLB affiliation. If you are in an area that has major league teams..you really cant be bothered with a home run contest..or game. No interest!! In 1946 at Fenway Park, I saw my one and only All Star game ( including on tv).
As a kid I loved the All-Star games, I esp liked the years when they had 2 all-star games ( in retrospect I have no idea why). But then in those days MLB was the king of the road. NFL and NBA were just blips on the radar. It was baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet!
:idea: I don't know if anyone has thought of it, but MLB might be better off if they played two divisional all-star games per year. Example: American East vs. National West American Central vs. National Central The other two divisions would have the time off and the divisions would rotate every year. Just a thought...