OSG Roundtable: Is The MLB All Star Game A Game, An Exhibition Or Past It's Prime

Wilkie:

Back in the day the MLB All Star game was the only game were stars from the National League and the American League faced each other. Part of the attraction to the game was seeing for example Steve Carlton face Reggie Jackson.

Interleague play has changed that and now the MLB All Star Game is just a exhibition that determines who gets home field advantage in the World Series. Go figure.

I have never been one to think their is one bit of meaning in the All Star Game. From the get go it's been a game for the fans and perhaps a source for league bragging rights. For some players the All Star Game is a source of extra income and that's about it.

While its still the best of the all star games in pro sports I'm usually done with it by the 4th inning. As a kid though the All Star Game was appointment television, the game was for the most part good and entertaining and as a National League fan I usually liked the outcome. Oh by the way I would watch from first pitch to final out.

As for my 6 year old son, the All Star Game isn't on his radar screen. That is sobering.

Brother Phil:

A Waste of Time…

The Major League Baseball All-Star has become one thing and one thing only. “A Tremendous Waste of Time”. Back in the day…when we old guys were kids it was cool. You got to see the best of the best playing baseball and having fun and just enjoying being around each other. There was no “Pre-tense” about it, they were showing off because they could, because they wanted to and because they liked putting on a show.

Nowadays the game much like most other “Big-Ticket” Sporting events has become a parody of its former self. For whatever reason, Heir Selig has decided to incorporate meaning to a game that was never designed for it. It was never meant to be a “Play for Home Field in the World Series” game; it was played for the enjoyment of the fans and players. Sure, the players would like bragging rights, but the fact that there is something now attached to it takes the fun out of it.

I get that they didn’t want the game to end in a “Tie” like it did a few years ago. But what about a good team “Earning” home field for the World Series like in…oh….say…EVERY OTHER SPORT!

I fully realize that it is and should be an exhibition game, like the NBA and like the NHL. I’m OK with that. Between the stupid rules that have now been put in place and the interminable length of the game, it’s pretty hard to watch. Will I watch? Yeah, for a little while; though because of TV it won’t start until after 9pm, but even for an old person like me, there is little incentive to stay up after 12am to watch a game that I really don’t enjoy so much anymore.

Nelson:
I was at the regrettable game in Milwaukee that catapulted the All-Star Game in to being and nothingness...

The three days started nicely enough with Sammy Sosa's caricature-driven home run shots in the Derby that almost beheaded Bernie Brewer.And when Torii Hunter robbed #25, we thought we might have something...

We were right... we had something- a tie...

At that moment, when Brewers fans were booing their own owner/Commissioner and threatened to burn the ballpark down to the ground before everyone got out, it was over. The game was a laughing-stock. You can boost the number of roster spots to 33.

You can make sure the fans and athletes can stuff the ballot boxes until they have irreparably-damaged paper cuts. You can say that "it matters." But that's like saying you're fine after you get smacked below the belt in front of your buddies and you can't catch your breath for hours afterward.

Yeah, you're fine...

And, no, it doesn't matter...

Just ask the National League since 1996...