You know what? I like the All Star game

Every year, complaints are made about the All Star Game, and they follow three primary courses. I'll adress all three individually, because as it turns out, I don't have a problem with any of the three "issues". To wit:

Fan voting screws everything up: Like it or not, this is the "All Star" game, not the "Best players in the first half of the season" game. This is one of the few events that is almost entirely fan oriented, and fans get to have a choice in watching who they want to watch. So what if Derek Jeter is always there? He's popular, like it or not.

The game shouldn't count for anything: Nobody watches the Pro Bowl. Nobody watches the NBA or NHL All Star games, Why? Because they aren't real games. Real competition is fun. Exhibition is boring. And frankly, there really isn't a good way to decide homefield anyways, because the leagues play each other so infrequently, and individual divisions play among themselves with more regularity, meaning teams often have disparate strengths of schedule. This is one game that puts someone from every AL team against someone from every NL team, and there aren't any flawed scheduling practices involved. Not only that, it gives a little gravitas and watchability to an otherwise unwatchable game.

Every team is represented: I LOVE that every team is represented. I remember back in the late 90s when the Twins were atrocious, the best part of the All Star Game was the brief moment that Ron Coomer came up for an at bat, seeing him compete with the stars of the league was great for a kid who was still a fan of the Twins. I have to imagine for young Pirates or Royals fans, it has to be great seeing their favorites competing on national television is still a joy in an otherwise dismal season. And as long as we are making it a game that determines what league is better, don't we WANT to evaluate them from top to bottom?

Anyways, this, to me, is one of the ways that baseball is better than other sports. Every game from the first of the season to the very last game of the World Series counts. Why do so many have a problem with this?

I Now Realize the Fun of All-Star Games

So, each year, I usually check out the baseball all-star game. It can usually be pretty entertaining, seeing the best players in baseball play each other, but to me, and I think a lot of people, its not that big of a deal. Even now that "this game counts" and the home league in the World Series is determined from it, it's still not that big of a deal to the average fan, whose team it may or may not matter to (who really knows in July?). It's actually kind of funny, because all it really is is a passing thought after the game. As a White Sox fan, I benefited from the AL's win in the 2005 all-star game, and I remember thinking after the game, "hey, the AL won, and the Sox are doing pretty good this year. If they make it to the World Series, they'll get home field." That was pretty much it, and it worked out well that game 1 was in Chicago on a Saturday night so I got to go.

But I think it was tonight where I realized the true value of an all-star game, beyond any lame gimmick to let the AL have home field every single year in the World Series: They are absolutely awesome to record and then rebroadcast on the MLB Network about 20 years later. Yes, that's right. They serve as a perfect time capsule of the players of the day to show the stars of the era and to remind grown-ups who were kids at the time of the players they grew up with.

My theory has always been that the most impressionable 5 year window for a kid becoming a sports fan is between 6 and 11 years old. As a 6 year old, they are just starting to understand a little more about the teams and individual players, and they usually create their oldest sports memories. By 11, any good future sports fan should be really knowledgeable about the teams and players and have a little bit of history and trends to fall back on after 5 years of solid fandom, supplemented by baseball cards, board games, or video games, depending on the era they grew up (and not having a job or caring about having a girlfriend allows more free time to be dedicated to sports).

Based on this, my impressionable sports window was from 1989-1994. Leaving the conversation on baseball, some of my baseball memories from that period include the 1989 World Series earthquake, the baseball strike, learning to love guys like Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Jack McDowell, learning to hate guys like Jose Canseco, Tony LaRussa, Ryne Sandberg, and Mark Grace, learning to respect guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Cal Ripken, the destruction of the old Comiskey Park and the opening of the new Comiskey Park, loving every minute of watching the A's get swept in the 1990 World Series (I really hated them back then), seeing the White Sox win a division title and Frank Thomas winning 2 MVPs, and the list goes on and on. Just about every baseball card I own is from this time period and I got even more familiar with players by playing the All-Star Baseball spinner game and playing the primitive Nintendo and Super Nintendo games that actually had MLB teams and players.

So tonight the MLB Network decided to show the 1990 and 1991 All-Star games back to back, which I caught flipping through the channels, and I just couldn't stop watching. Originally, I thought it was funny to see so many members of the Danny Tartabull game playing in these games, which I just posted in the archives, including Danny Tartabull himself, but watching these games really took me back to my days as a 7 and 8 year old watching players that seemed larger than life at the time playing each other, and it was a lot of fun. It really took me back, remembering my baseball cards and silly kid arguments about who is better with my friends. It's also funny to watch games from this era for the awkward moments baseball would probably want us to forget. For example, in the 1990 game, Jose Canseco flew out to Darryl Strawberry, and Strawberry threw out the tagging up runner at home. Heading back into the dugout, he was congratulated by Barry Bonds.....ugh...

So I officially discovered the best part about an all-star game. They are awesome to record and show several years later. I bet there are a lot of 6-11 years out there right now that will sit down and have a ton of fun watching the 2009 all-star game some time in 2028.

Oh, Canada...I'm sorry!

As I was half-alert watching the pre-game of Major League Baseball’s All-Star game on Tuesday, I was a little surprised when the Star-Spangled Banner was sang, but O Canada wasn’t. I know that at most sporting events, O Canada isn’t played/sang unless the team is playing a Canadian team. But this is the All-Star Game. A player from the Toronto Blue Jays was starting pitching for the American League and another was at second base. Where was O Canada? I mean, it’s not like Toronto is going to skip the Star-Spangled Banner when the All-Star game is played there again. (Cheryl Crow was on hand to sing the Star-Spangled Banner live.)

I later learned that O Canada was played—and I mean played. They had a recorded version and played that. It wasn’t even televised for those of us at home, which is a pity, because its’ a beautiful song. (That’s even worse than playing a tape-recorded version. Fox should share some blame, along with the organizers of the All-Star game.)

This lack of performance strikes me as the result one of three things: either they couldn’t find someone who was willing to sing, they didn’t care, or they completed missed the boat and forgot about it, grabbing a recording at the last minute. Knowing the number of people who would adore to perform in front of a large, captive crowd, I don’t believe they couldn’t find anyone to sing O Canada. It’s not even like they would’ve had to memorize the lyrics. President Barak Obama was there, so they could’ve just used the teleprompters! I don’t believe they dropped the ball and waited until the last minute. The Cardinals, being in the National League, haven’t had to regularly face a Canadian team since the Expos moved to Washington in 2005. If they kept a tape around for games against the Expos (first of all, shame on them!), I just can’t believe they could find it immediately. It would’ve been easier to just grab someone from the stands to sing O Canada.

I think it was all sorts of failure to not perform the Canadian national anthem with the honor that the United States national anthem was afforded. There were two players from a Canadian team (and two Canadians, although that doesn’t matter because there are so many nationalities on the team. The important fact is that there is a team playing in Canada. Trivia: there was also a guy born in Germany—Edwin Jackson; also, two players were born in Minnesota).

One of the Canadians, Justin Morneau, was not impressed. He accurately pointed out that the reverse happening in Canada would probably cause a mild uproar (not his exact words. He just said it wouldn’t go over too well).

So, California Angels. I understand the next All-Star game will be held in your ballpark. I hope you correct this error.

And since I love crazy contracts, here are two articles on some crazy NBA contract additions. This pleases me, but not as much as it could be. I give it to the Oakland A’s for adding provisions in their contracts about growing mustaches. That’s the kinda of silliness I like!

Obligatory All-Star Game Post

If you have been poking around the blogosphere or checking out your local sports columnist to see what they've had to say about the All-Star Game, you'll note that almost universally, they claim the game would be better if it didn't count. Why? They say because it's unfair. It allows people that won't even compete in the World Series have a say in who gets home field advantage, and it may promote injury if, God forbid, the players in the game actually put forth and effort.
Now seriously, do you think it's any more or less fair to base it on a team's record over the course of the season? A team plays 18 games across league lines against a grand total of 5 teams. I think it's kind of hard to say whether or not one team for a given league is better than a team from the other league until they play each other for a while, like in the World Series.
As for this business about players not involved in the World Series getting to aid in deciding who will get home field advantage? Last I checked, the Red Sox get to pound the Orioles about 20 times a year (as many times, if not more, than they play the entire National League). Some of those times are in September, when the late season call ups get perhaps their only shots in the Major Leagues. Don't they have a say in who get's homefield as well, playing the sacrificial lambs at the feet of the Red Sox? I am much more comfortable with the best players from each league involved in this process than some triple A call ups.
As for the injury thing, well, yeah. They happen. They also happen in rec softball. At Real Job Inc, every year for the past three, someone has broke a bone so bad playing softball that it required surgery. I can't remember the last time such an injury happened in the All-Star Game, but if it did, I would feel much more comfortable if they were actually playing for something than if they weren't.
I know I'm in the minority and will probably be shouted down but if anything, I strive to be different here at the Victoria Times. Or something.

An All-Star image to make you sick

Fortunately, the picture of Carlos Quentin and Justin Morneau in a loving embrace is not yet out there.

EDIT: Oh wait, here's that picture. There's some deniability, but I know what I saw.

It's the All-Star game

That's been my most common refrain when it comes to the Midsummer Classic. Not to rehash what was said when Beth gave the same sermon, but I just wanted to illustrate what I think the purpose of every individual group is when setting the All-Star rosters.

The Fans: Since this is a game that is supposed to feature the stars (it being the all-star game, not the "players with the best first half of the season game") I'm all for fans and their idiocies picking the most popular players in the game. It's how people will eventually tune in, if they get to watch players they like. Most people don't care whether or not Ian Kinsler is having a breakout year, but by golly they've heard of Dustin Pedroia. Let them have their Dustin Pedroia.

The Players: The players should be picking guys who have excelled in the first half, rewarding and recognizing their own. If you think there was a snub, then blame it on the players.

The Managers: Terry Francona and Clint Hurdle are charged with the task of A) making sure all teams are represented (a good rule, because it means all the stars of the leagues teams are involved. All-star. Get it? When the Twins were beginning to get bad, I would only watch the game when Kirby Puckett was in. I don't see why Kansas Citians would be any different when it comes to Joakim Soria.) and B) winning the game. The manager has no responsibility to the fans, essentially, or the players. Jason Varitek clearly is not in the discussion for top backstops this year, buthe is on the All-Star team, likely because Francona believes that he can handle the pitching staff of the American League.

With all that being said, I don't want to hear any more complaining. Please.