5 Reasons the All-Star Game Has Lost its Luster
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by user Allonthefield
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game has lost its luster.
Personally, I haven't watched it since 2003. Despite a good year last year, recent trends show that the game is not the draw that it used to be.
But why?
It's hard to put a finger on an exact reason, but I am a firm believer in the ol' college try. Here are five reasons why I believe the All-Star Game has lost its loster.
- Interleague Play makes the best players in both leagues available to fans in every city. For example, interleague play brought Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants to Seattle last year, a city that had never hosted the team or the slugger.
- The Yankees, Mets and Red Sox play every night. As teams with enormous budgets continue to stockpile talent, marketing the All-Star game as an unusual display of talent almost seems ridiculous. Thank goodness the small market teams get to keep the stars a few years before free agency.
- Cable television allows any person in any city to follow the exploits of any player or team in any other city. There was a time when you'd have to dig through the sports page to find news and stats about your favorite player, as I once did when Will Clark signed with the Texas Rangers. Between MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv, though, there is no such thing as an out of market game anymore.
- Free Agency means you'll get a chance to see your favorite player eventually, and he may even wind up on your team. Just be patient. Kenny Lofton has played on 11 teams in his career, including at least one in every Major League division. Even Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best player in all of baseball, has seen his share of the country -- he's played on both coasts, with a stop in the middle.
- Despite what Bud Selig would have you believe, there's not much at stake. Players love to go out and have a good time, chum it up with other superstars and maybe get some footage on their new camcorder (I always get a kick out of that). But once the game rolls around, they're just trying not to make an idiot of themselves. The "winner gets home field advantage" in the World Series ploy is dumb, because only two teams make the World Series anyway. Do you think Derek Jeter will be putting out extra effort just so the Red Sox will have an edge in October? I don't think so.
So what can be done to remedy the boredom? Interleague play, big budget teams, cable television and free agency aren't going anywhere. But #5 gives us a little wiggle room, and in a future post I'll address suggestions for fixing the All-Star Game.
This article is also posted at All on the Field sports blog. Check out more great sports content here!
