At one point in time the All-Star Game meant something in baseball. It was a true honor to be named to the game, and in fact, we used to judge players careers by the amount of times they were named to the game. We would also look at players numbers years later and wonder what happened to that guy that was so amazing in the first half, and why in the hell a player didn’t get named to the team when he had huge levels of production. Now, in the world of participation awards, it seems like one of every 10 players makes the All-Star festivities, either the game or the Home Run Derby. As you can tell, I’m not a huge fan of what has happened to the event the last few years, and I’ll share more of why I’m much less jazzed than I was as a kid by the presence of the All-Star Game.
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HISTORY OF THE EVENT
Some data to know.
The ASG began in 1933.
The event began with managers and fans choosing players in 1933-34.
From 1935-46 only the managers chose the players. The same thing happened from 1958-69.
In 1959-62 there were two All-Star Games each year.
Here are the results of each game.
Here is a synopsis by decade.
MY PERSONAL ISSUES WITH ALL-STAR GAME
Here are my two biggest issues with the Game.
1 – It used to mean more with players not pulling our to being left out on purpose because of their current schedules.
Look at the current list of players who made the team but won’t play this year: Tommy La Stella, Hunter Pence, Brandon Lowe, Jake Odorizzi, Marcus Stroman, Mike Minor, Charlie Morton, Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer, Josh Hader and Zack Greinke. I’m probably leaving guys out at this point as it’s hard to keep track. There are 32 rosters spots per league (20 players, 12 pitchers) which, practically speaking, always end up being way more than that.
As a result, the ASG selections total of players in the modern era is totally watered down since so many extra players are named to the game each year. Hell, guys that pitch Sunday before the Game now have their own rules. “Initially, Sunday starters were deemed ineligible. Then, they were allowed to make the decision themselves (albeit limited to a single inning if they opted to play). Now, clubs or players are allowed to make requests for usage accommodation if there are factors (such as an IL stint, recent surgery, innings workload or other reasons) that would affect the pitcher’s availability. If an accommodation is granted, then the parties agree upon the pitcher’s status and workload availability.”
Yeah, that’s just great.
I think it’s just weak and watered down. Don’t know how you could think otherwise.
Here is some fun with numbers pertaining to the rosters of the game.
3 – With the internet/cable, you can see all the players that you rarely had a chance to in the past, all the time.
I was pretty fortunate growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, to have an AL (Athletics) and NL (Giants) team in my backyard. That said, I hardly ever went to an A’s game, like every other year tops, so I rarely saw the AL players. Hell, I didn’t even see all the NL players growing up either. It’s hard for some folks to wrap their head around the fact that until the last 15 or so years, the only way you could see every player would be to go to game after game. There was no interleague play. You got to watch your own team on TV all the time, though the teams never showed all games preferring to put on the boob tube games amongst the division (meaning as a Giants fan I rarely if ever saw teams like the Astros or Brewers). You had to wait for the weekend to see nationally televised games in the hope that you could see that superstar you were reading about in the box scores each day but had never laid your eyes on. As a result, the ASG itself has lost some of the luster it once held, and I don’t anyone could argue against that point, as you can view any player, doing virtually anything on the field, at a moments notice thanks to the wonders of the internet.
THE HOME RUN DERBY
Do we still need the Home Run Derby?
The best part about the event this season is that Chris Berman is no longer a part of it (sorry Chris, your schtick was great in 1991, but it’s just no longer relevant).
Here is a list of the rules this year. Oh, and the winner gets a million dollars, because the millions they already make for playing the game aren’t enough (some jealousy evident).
There will be a bracket this season, and here is the list of players (homers in parenthesis). Christian Yelich had to bow out due to ongoing back issues.
Matt Chapman (21) vs. Vlad Guerrero (8)
Alex Bregman (22) vs. Joc Pederson (20)
Peter Alonso (28) vs. Carlos Santana (18)
Josh Bell (25) vs. Ronald Acuna (20)
And I just gotta say it, I’m embarrassed that Vlad Jr. is in the event. I had no idea that all that mattered to be included in the event is to have a HOF name, or a fantastic scouting report. Vlad might very well be great and make 10 All-Star Games in his career, but it’s flat out absurd that he’s currently in the HR Derby. Think I’m being daft?
Vlad has a .318 wOBA (the league average is .319) and his wRC+ is 98.
Those two measures suggest he’s slightly worse than the league average.
Vlad has a .249/.328/.413 slash line (.741 OPS) and his Isolated Power (ISO) is .164.
His batting average is worse than the league average (.252).
His OBP is just barely better than the league average (.328).
His SLG is worse than the league average (.432).
His OPS is worse than the league average (.754).
His ISO is worse than the league average (.180).
We have a rookie who has NOT been league average.
We have a rookie who is behind 181 others in homers (there are also 20 others that have eight), yet we have Vlad Jr. in the HR Derby.
I’m sorry, but as the kids say, that is some weak A-S.
I say all the time that we should play the game of what is versus what could be in fantasy baseball. Seems like MLB needs to take that advice to heart.
Here’s an article for those of you that want to bet on the event.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday-Friday, 8-10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). Follow Ray’s work on Twitter (@baseballguys) and be sure to listen to his podcast work too.
