Why the MLB All Star Game is Still One of My Favorite Sporting Events

The Major League Baseball All Star Game is still to this day one of my favorite sporting events of the year.

I know it doesn’t mean a thing. That it’s just an exhibition. But, it’s still one of my favorite sporting events of the year and I don’t think that will ever change.

You can debate whether or not the MLB All Star Game should “count,” as they say with the winning league receiving home-field advantage for the World Series. I personally don’t mind that aspect. But, I don’t think there’s a debate for the fact that the game shouldn’t exist.

It should still be a thrill for every single baseball fan to see stars from each and every one of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball play together and against each other one night of the year. If you don’t care for the game or even worse want to see it abolished I seriously have to question how big of a baseball fan you are.

When I was a kid this was the one baseball game all year I wanted to watch and if the game of baseball is going to survive and thrive into the future it should remain that way for the kids of this nation.

One of my favorite things as a young sports fan was actually the player introductions for the MLB All Star Game. Getting to see all of the stars smile and tip their cap, not only to the paying fans in attendance, but all of us at home made you feel like you were a part of it all. It’s still possibly my favorite part of the entire game.

Some who don’t think there should be a MLB All Star Game anymore claim that it’s just not special these days because due to cable television, MLB.tv and interleague play it’s just not thrilling to see one league compete against another anymore and you have the opportunity to see the stars of the game literally every night of the week.

It’s true that we have the opportunity to see the stars of baseball every night of the week, but how many of us actually do so? How many of us have that kind of time in our lives?

I have access to MLB.tv, meaning I have the opportunity to see each and every one of the 30 MLB teams play on any given night. Despite this there are many superstars who I will only see play all season long during the All Star Game. Between work, relationships and just living life who really has time to keep up with every star in the game?

That’s why I love the MLB All Star Game. That’s why I’ll always love the MLB All Star Game. If you don’t that’s fine, but don’t try to take my fun away. 

ESPN Blatantly Stumping for Yasiel Puig to Make All Star Game is Wrong

Media are supposed to be objective. They aren’t supposed to take sides on news stories or events when giving straightforward news. There, of course, are editorials in which media can give informed opinions on such topics. Sometimes the line between being objective and editorializing is crossed though by media.

ESPN, the nation’s biggest sports medium, has crossed the line lately by appearing completely subjective in its attempts to get Los Angeles Dodgers phenom rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig into next week’s Major League Baseball All Star Game.

Last Saturday the All Star Game rosters were announced and Puig was left off of the initial National League roster, but was selected as one of five players in the Final Five vote by N.L. skipper Bruce Bochy. Despite playing in only 34 games this season, even less at the time of the roster announcement, it seemed like Puig would be a lock to win the Final Five vote over arguably more deserving players like Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond and San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence. However, after the first few voting totals came in Puig was ranked second in the voting behind Freeman.

Puig has quite possibly been the best player in all of baseball since he entered the league just over a month ago. He’s hit a whopping .407 with eight home runs and 19 RBI. He would probably be mesmerizing to watch play in the midsummer classic, but does a small sample size of 34 major league games warrant him being an all star over someone like Freeman who has more experience, not only this season but career-wise, and has all star worthy numbers in his own right with a .305 average, nine homers and 56 RBI, which is good enough for ninth in the National League ahead of all stars like Pedro Alvarez, Troy Tulowitzki, Buster Posey, Andrew McCutchen, Joey Votto, David Wright and many more.

Do to Puig only playing in about half the games that guys like Freeman have and to the fact that the MLB All Star Game is merely an exhibition game the question of which one of these players should make the game really is a subjective one. However, it should be a subjective one made by the fans. They should be the ones deciding whether or not they think Puig should make the game or should not, because he may not have enough time in the league in their opinion. Thankfully, they get to choose.

However, the media shouldn’t be trying to influence their opinion on shows like “SportsCenter,” ESPN’s answer to the nightly news, which should remain objective for the most part. On editorial shows like “Pardon the Interruption,” “Around the Horn” and many others on the ESPN networks trying to influence opinion isn’t really wrong, but the way the network/shows sometimes go about it, especially of late, is somewhat infuriating and biased.

However, there is a difference between editorial shows showing bias and straight news outlets like “SportsCenter” showing bias. When “SportsCenter” stumps to get Puig into the All Star Game as they’ve blatantly been trying to do for some reason (most likely ratings) much of this week it truly borders on journalistic malpractice. “SportsCenter” shouldn’t have a rooting interest in who wins the National League Final Vote, and notice they only care about the National League vote and where Puig is in relation to the leading vote getter in the category. The show shouldn’t care if the winner is Puig or Freeman or any one of the other three players in the category. It’s the show’s duty to report the winner of the vote, not influence it.

The Final Five vote will come to an end later this afternoon and it wouldn’t surprise me if Puig has surpassed Freeman in the voting by then to take the final slot on the National League roster. If he does ESPN should pat themselves on the back, because they would have played a big role in getting Puig on the team, after all, all we’ve heard about for half a week now is how Puig should be on this team and not Freeman, Gonzalez, Desmond or Pence.        

My Complete 2013 National League All Star Game Roster

Lineup:

1.       CF – Carlos Gonzalez (Rockies)

2.       3B – David Wright (Mets)

3.       DH – Joey Votto (Reds)

4.       1B – Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks)

5.       RF – Carlos Beltran (Cardinals)

6.       SS – Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies)

7.       LF – Michael Cuddyer (Rockies)

8.       C – Yadier Molina (Cardinals)

9.       2B – Brandon Phillips (Reds)

SP – Matt Harvey (Mets)

Reserves:

C – Buster Posey (Giants)

1B – Allen Craig (Cardinals)

1B – Adrian Gonzalez (Dodgers)

1B – Freddie Freeman (Braves)

2B – Marco Scutaro (Giants)

3B – Matt Carpenter (Cardinals)

SS – Jean Segura (Brewers)

SS – Everth Cabrera (Padres)

OF – Andrew McCutchen (Pirates)

OF – Dominic Brown (Phillies)

OF – Jay Bruce (Reds)

Pitchers:

Jordan Zimmerman (Nationals)

Adam Wainwright (Cardinals)

Shelby Miller (Cardinals)

Lance Lynn (Cardinals)

Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)

Cliff Lee (Phillies)

Patrick Corbin (Diamondbacks)

Mat Latos (Reds)

Mike Minor (Braves)

Craig Kimbrel (Braves)

Jason Grilli (Pirates)

Kevin Gregg (Cubs)

Mike Dunn (Marlins)

First 5 To Miss:

1.       Yasiel Puig (Dodgers)

2.       Edward Mujica (Cardinals)

3.       Hunter Pence (Giants)

4.       Carlos Gomez (Brewers)

5.       Mark Melancon (Pirates)

My Complete 2013 American League All Star Team

Lineup:

1.       CF – Mike Trout (Angels)

2.       LF – Adam Jones (Orioles)

3.       3B – Miguel Cabrera (Tigers)

4.       1B – Chris Davis (Orioles)

5.       DH – Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays)

6.       RF – Nelson Cruz (Rangers)

7.       C – Joe Mauer (Twins)

8.       2B – Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox)

9.       SS – Jhonny Peralta (Tigers)

SP – Max Scherzer (Tigers)

Reserves:

C – A.J. Pierzynski (Rangers)

1B – Prince Fielder (Tigers)

2B – Robinson Cano (Yankees)

2B – Jose Altuve (Astros)

3B – Manny Machado (Orioles)

3B – Josh Donaldson (A’s)

SS – Jed Lowrie (A’s)

OF – Alex Gordon (Royals)

OF – Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)

OF – Nick Markakis (Orioles)

DH – David Ortiz (Red Sox)

Pitchers:

Matt Moore (Rays)

Clay Buchholz (Red Sox)

Felix Hernandez (Mariners)

Hisashi Iwakuma (Mariners)

Yu Darvish (Rangers)

Bartolo Colon (A’s)

Justin Masterson (Indians)

Justin Verlander (Tigers)

Mariano Rivera (Yankees)

Joe Nathan (Rangers)

Tanner Scheppers (Rangers)

Grant Balfour (A’s)

Jesse Crain (White Sox)

First 5 to Miss:

1.       Evan Longoria (Rays)

2.       Chris Tillman (Orioles)

3.       Howie Kendrick (Angels)

4.       Daniel Nava (Red Sox)

5.       Greg Holland (Royals)

10 Most Egregious All Star Choices

The All Star game player selections this year seem to have been the worst, by far, of any All Star game that I can remember ever seeing. So bad, in fact, that I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most egregious choices:

10. General Snubs

I figured I would start out with the simplest one. Every year there are going to be players snubbed for the MLB All Star Game. Even with the All Star rosters always seeming to expand, now up to 34 spots in each league, there are still more deserving players out there that won’t be able to make the trip. One of the biggest head scratching snubs (that I won’t get to in this article) is Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce being chosen for the National League squad, despite there being a handful of seemingly more deserving outfielders like Michael Bourn (Braves), Bryce Harper (Nationals), Andre Ethier (Dodgers), Martin Prado (Braves) and Matt Holliday (Cardinals).

9. Reliever Requirement

I definitely agree that there should be a certain number of relief pitchers who make the All Star team each year, because relievers are a very important aspect of today’s baseball and deserve the honor as much as anybody. But, the number of relievers included on All Star squads is probably too many, especially in a year like this one where there are about 16-18 deserving National League starting pitchers. Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon is certainly having a good year, but is he really more deserving of being an All Star than snubbed starting pitchers like Johnny Cueto (Reds), Zack Grienke (Brewers), Chris Capuano (Dodgers), Ryan Vogelsong (Giants), James McDonald (Pirates) or AJ Burnett (Pirates)? No, he really isn’t.

8. Yu Darvish

I know that Texas Rangers rookie pitcher Yu Darvish recently said that he didn’t think he deserved to be an All Star in a moment of being way too humble, but looks at Darvish’s stats. He’s second in the American League with 10 wins, behind All Star teammate Matt Harrison and Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price. He’s struck out 117 batters, which ranks him third in the league behind All Stars Felix Hernandez (Mariners) and Justin Verlander (Tigers). He also has a really good 3.59 ERA. You could argue that not only is Darvish an All Star this season, but possibly the guy who should start the game for the American League (he wouldn’t be my choice though). Now, Darvish will likely still be an All Star as he is included in the Final Five vote (which I think he will win – not only will the Rangers fan base be voting for him, but so will all of Japan). But, the fact that his own manager Ron Washington (the AL All Star skipper) snubbed him from the initial team is dumbfounding to me, especially when Washington included three of his own guys (see #6) on the squad that really have little business being there. 

7. A.J. Pierzynski

There are three catchers on the American League All Star team (Rangers’ Mike Napoli, Twins’ Joe Mauer and Orioles’ Matt Wieters) and none of them are really even close to being the AL’s best catcher this season. That, of course, looking at statistics would be Chicago White Sox veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski, whose likely having a career year. Pierzynski is hitting .285 this season with 14 homers and 45 RBI. Pierzynski, who was recently named by Men’s Journal player’s poll as the “most hated” man in baseball, has basically been left off of the All Star team because nobody likes him … and that’s extremely wrong. The All Star game shouldn’t be about how liked a player is, but how good he is and Pierzynski is the AL’s best catcher. But, the fans have spoken by voting Napoli to start (despite the fact that he clearly shouldn’t be an All Star), the players (I guess) responded by voting in Mauer as a reserve (which he does deserve) and AL manager Ron Washington (I guess) decided to use one of his roster selections on Wieters, who while being a good catcher is in no way deserving of being on the roster over Pierzynski. Pierzynski is hitting 38 points higher than Wieters with three more blasts and seven more runs batted in.  

6. Ron Washington’s Homer Picks

There are frequently All Star game controversies when a manager of the league decides to take one or his own players over more deserving players. Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington, the AL skipper, has done that this season in triplicate. Washington included on his squad Rangers closer Joe Nathan, Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus and Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler. Let’s start with Nathan. Nathan’s clearly having a great season, but the AL squad already has four other relievers (Ryan Cook, Jim Johnson, Chris Perez and Fernando Rodney). Washington could’ve and should’ve used Nathan’s spot for another one of his players, the more deserving, Yu Darvish (see #8) or another deserving pitcher like White Sox ace Jake Peavy, Orioles ace Jason Hammel, or the hometown Kansas City Royals closer Jonathan Broxton. Elvis Andrus is also having a really good year for the Rangers, but I don’t think it’s necessary for the AL squad to have two reserve shortstops (Andrus and Asdrubal Cabrera) when the squad only has three reserve outfielders (Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout and Adam Jones). Andrus spot would’ve been better served going to someone like Austin Jackson (Tigers), Josh Willingham (Twins) or Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays). The homer pick made by Washington that seems the most egregious, though, is him not including Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis on the squad, despite him having a better season than Kinsler. Now, I know Kinsler was chosen by his fellow players (and what can you really do there) and not Washington, but Washington could’ve found a spot for the deserving Kipnis anyway. This really brings up a problem with the player’s vote. 1) the player’s vote is really done a few weeks too soon 2) is the player’s vote really that much less of a popularity vote than the fan’s vote?

5. Adam Dunn

I don’t know whether it was the players or manager Ron Washington who named Chicago White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn to the American League All Star squad and I do know that Dunn is currently among league leaders in both home runs (25) and RBI (60), but he should definitely not be included on the All Star team. The first reason why Dunn shouldn’t be on the All Star squad is that there is no reason whatsoever for the team to have two reserve designated hitters (Royals Billy Butler is also on the squad and deservedly so). However, the biggest reason why Dunn shouldn’t be an All Star is that he’s currently hitting a disgustingly low .216 and has struck out 126 times, which leads all of Major League Baseball and is 23 more strikeouts than the next highest guy (Carlos Pena). How is .216 and 126 strikeouts being an ALL STAR. I’m not sure that there has ever been an All Star in the history of the MLB with a batting average that low at the time of their selection. That’s just despicable and a slap in the face to real All Stars.

4. Two Chicago Cubs

With a few days remaining before the All Star break the Chicago Cubs have a major league worst record of 30-50 (.375), but have two players on the National League All Star squad. Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro (who should’ve been the team’s only representative and frankly should be the NL starter) and first baseman Bryan LaHair both were named to the team. Now, I know that with player’s choosing reserve positions for the game that NL manager Tony La Russa is slightly handcuffed by what he can do here, but in a perfect world this is what could have happened. First base is extremely weak this season in the National League after you get past Reds start (and All Star starter) Joey Votto. LaHair really is having one of the best seasons among NL first baggers, but Astros’ Carlos Lee and Nationals’ Adam LaRoche are probably having better seasons. What I would have done had I been in control of the whole squad would’ve been to name Carlos Lee as the reserve first baseman, thus not needing Jose Altuve (the NL’s reserve second baseman) as the Astros’ rep and would’ve given Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips (see #3) the reserve second base spot. This would have ensured that the worst team in baseball didn’t have two players on the All Star team and still would’ve given every team in the NL a representative (which is mandated by MLB). Just to prove how bad it looks for the sport’s worst Cubs to have two players in the game the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers only have two All Stars (Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw) and the NL Central leading Pittsburgh Pirates only have two All Stars (Andrew McCutchen, Joel Hanrahan).

3. Tony La Russa’s Reds Bias

The biggest controversy surrounding this year’s All Star choices was the supposed beef between National League manager and former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker keeping both Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto and Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips off of the NL squad. Cueto and Phillips both played a role in a massive brawl between the Cardinals/Reds two seasons ago. Phillips has clearly been the best second baseman in the National league this season and Cueto has been one of the five best pitchers in the NL and should’ve been in contention to possibly start the All Star game. However, neither of them will make the trip to Kansas City and I guarantee La Russa left them off of the team intentionally. There’s no doubt that La Russa is an all-time great manager and a no brainer Hall of Famer, but he’s always come off as a complete jerk to me. His leaving Phillips and Cueto off of the National League All Star team for personal and petty reasons is one of the most disgusting and dishonorable things I’ve ever seen from anybody in the sport of baseball. La Russa should certainly be ashamed of himself and MLB shouldn’t have let him get away with this horrible mismanagement.

2. San Francisco Giants Fans

There’s no secret that fans voting for the MLB All Star Game starters don’t do so with any objectivity. It’s just a gigantic popularity contest, which is disappointing because that often time leads to asinine picks for the starting lineups. Usually these idiotic choices are done by large fan bases loyal to their teams and players and this year’s culprit was the San Francisco Giants fan base and their selection of fan-favorite third baseman Pablo Sandoval to start at third for the National League All Star team. The selection of Sandoval is the worst in recent memory by fans and possibly the worst that I’ve ever seen in general. There were three third basemen this year that greatly deserved this honor more and got the slight because of Giants fans. Based on statistics alone you can’t argue that New York Mets third baseman David Wright hasn’t been the best third baseman in the National League this year. In almost every season Wright should be the game’s starting third baseman. However, this season being the final season for Atlanta Braves legend Chipper Jones I think that the fans should’ve banded together to select him as the starting third baseman (see #1). Also, joining Wright and Jones as a more deserving candidate than Sandoval would have been St. Louis Cardinals third bagger David Freese. Sandoval’s selection as starting third baseman looked at the time like it would have kept at least one deserving third baseman and possibly two off of the team as Jones and Freese were only included in the Final Five voting. Thankfully, though, Chipper Jones has since been named to the NL squad as an injury replacement for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and David Freese is leading the Final Five voting going into its final day. However, if I were the manager of the National League team I’d show my disapproval to Giants fans by batting the undeserving Sandoval in the ninth slot and only playing him in the field for a half inning before removing him for either Wright or Jones.        

1.      

1.       1. Chipper Jones Not Making All Star Team in Final Year

Alright, I’ll start off my saying that I know this one has been rectified by Chipper Jones being announced as an injury replacement for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, as mentioned in #2, and I’m thoroughly pleased about it. However, there should not have been any question in the first place about whether or not Chipper Jones should make the National League All Star team in his final season of his illustrious career. Jones’ numbers this season might not be All Star worthy on their own merits, because of injuries that resulted in two trips to the disabled list, but it’s his career work that makes him worthy in his final season; much like Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. was in his final season in 2001 when he actually won the All Star Game MVP Award. Fans, players and Tony La Russa not initially naming Chipper Jones to the NL All Star squad was really somewhat of a slap in the face to the legend. However, the baseball Gods saw to it that the future hall of famer and one of the five greatest third basemen of all time would not be slighted.