Tuesday, July 12, 2011

How to Fix the MLB All-Star Game

Too much of the talk regarding this year's MLB All-Star Game has revolved around the players not present in Arizona. Whether due to injuries, rules or personal issues, many of the league's top players are not participating in tonight's game. With that in mind, some ideas on how to fix the MLB All-Star Game.

1) Move the Futures Game to Monday: MLB wanted a televised Draft to drive up hype and hope it become's an event as the NBA and NFL Drafts have become. So why not do the same with the Futures Game? Currently, the Futures Game is played on the Sunday of All-Star week, during which regular MLB games are going on. Unless you're at that ball park or your home team's game has ended, you're not rushing to tune into the game. However, if you move it to Monday, on a day when none of the other major 3 sports have anything going on anyways, you can garner a huge audience.

The argument that most fans won't know about the players participating in the game are overrated. In this age of Internet and 24 hour sports networks, fans know who the top prospects in the game and their team's are. Making this a marquee All-Star event can only help in promoting MLB's young talent.

2) Move the HR Derby to Tuesday: The HR Derby is close to becoming the grand event of All-Star week if the game itself isn't fixed. The main reason for moving the event down a day is...

3) Move the All-Star game until Wednesday: With this, the rule of starters who pitch on the Sunday before the All-Star game can go out the window. In fact, all players can decide to show up to the All-Star location late Monday or early Tuesday, giving them more time to prepare for All-Star. All players suited up (who are not on the DL) can play. Which leads us to...

4) All players selected to All-Star game must show: UNLESS THEY ARE ON THE DL. If you're healthy to play, no reason not to show up.

5) Fans and players should not be allowed to vote: Too many times, fans turn the voting into a popularity contest and certain guys who might not be putting up All-Star like seasons are selected as starters. Too many times, players turn the voting into making sure they make their teammates happy and screw over guys they don't like from other squads. If we're making this game count, then managers should be picking the rosters. Being that selection is not complete until after July, the managers of each division leading and wild card leading teams should convene to pick out the rosters: starters, bench players and pitchers.


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