Either the MLB All-Star Game Shouldn’t Count or the Eligibility Rules Need to Change

For the 13^th straight year, the American League didn’t lose the All-Star Game.  For the fourth straight year, they won it by just one run, defeating the National League by a score of 4-3 and clinching home field advantage in the World Series.  With the game tied at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning, the American League took the lead on a sequence of plays involving a group of players who are unlikely to play in the Fall Classic.

With one out and last place San Diego’s Heath Bell on the mound, Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers, the only player in this sequence whose team is not currently 13 or more games under .500, tripled to left over the glove of Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks.  After an intentional walk to last place Cleveland’s Victor Martinez, centerfielder for the last place Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones hit a sacrifice fly to right off Bell to give the AL the lead.

While there is no way to get around the popularity contest that is the fan vote for the starting lineup of the All-Star Game, something can be done about either the eligibility rules that currently state that every team must be represented by at least one member or the fact that the Midsummer Classic, an exhibition game, still counts for something.

With regards to the eligibility rule, I am not trying to take a shot at the credentials of any of this year’s All-Stars, but clearly, as it happens every year, some more deserving players were left off due to the mandatory inclusion of players from the lesser teams.  I don’t mind the rule in theory, but when players from teams who have been out of the playoff race since Memorial Day are deciding which team has home field advantage, it just doesn’t make sense.

If you’re going to have this rule in place, then the game absolutely cannot count for anything.  I firmly believe it shouldn’t count anyway, but if it is going to, then the All-Star Game needs to be the best possible 25-man rosters from each league.  If that means an entire division is left off then so be it.

The All-Star Game is a show, with 33-man rosters, more substitutions than a basketball game, and managers naming players to the roster because they play for their own team.  The fact that the All-Star Game counts towards something is doing nothing but hurting the game of baseball.  If it’s going to count, get rid of the eligibility requirements and pick the best possible team.  Since that’s not coming anytime soon in this age of political correctness, then turn this game back into the exhibition it was designed to be.

The Power Rankings will return next week when all the contributors return.  With Gideon’s crazy system making up half the rankings it just makes me look nuts when I put it on paper.

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