Category: All-Star Game

2013 Boston Red Sox

What happens when the Red Sox lose Koji?

It’s inevitable. At some point, Ben Cherington will lose Koji Uehara. Now, whether that’s due to lowballing him by a…

October 26, 2014 Harry Burnham
All-Star Game

Fixing the All-Star Game

American League All-Star David Ortiz (L) of the Boston Red Sox towels off National League All-Star Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins as Ramirez hits in the final round of Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Anaheim, California on July 12, 201. UPI/Jim Ruymen Photo via Newscom
Before I start, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of George Steinbrenner. He was a fun man to hate, and in his defense let it be said that he spared no expense to give his team's fans a winning ballclub -- that's more than many owners can say. If I go on any more, I'll veer toward speaking ill of the dead, though, so I'll move on.

Last night, the American League beat the National League by a score of 5-3, extending their win streak to an impressive 13 straight (not counting 2002's infamous tie). Okay, fine, I just made that up off the top of my head -- I'm writing this Tuesday afternoon, before the game's been played. But here's the problem: how many of you, reading that, simply went along because you didn't actually watch the game? I'm guessing more than half. The All-Star game, once a must-see event, has become at best an interesting exhibition and at worst a pointless, boring, and tedious 4 hour affair. Baseball's All-Star game is still, somehow, the most interesting of all the major sports, but its profile has been falling sharply for years, which is certainly a shame. I want to put forward a few suggestions that I think would help give the All-Star game meaning again without resorting to tactics like World Series home field advantage, which I think cheapens the World Series more than anything else.

July 14, 2010 andrew lipsett