Three Rivers Stadium and it's cookie-cutter artificial turf laden backdrop served as the perfect stage for this 13-year old and his dad. The excitement of seeing all of the best players together in one showcase was more than I could have imagined, even if we were in right field up against the foul pole. The joy of hearing Carlos Garcia's name as the lone Pirate and looking at all of the banners with the players names scripted horizontally across the stadium levels brought a real sense of majesty to the event. Hearing the chorus of boos as Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek were announced and finally getting to watch Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett and Paul Molitor for the first time brought addition pageantry that I never experienced with any other contest. It was very special.
True baseball fans have an interest in the Midsummer Night's Classic, even if that fan doesn't get the opportunity to have "their" player inserted into the line-up. When else would I hope for Fred McGriff to do well in a game (it should be noted that McGriff and maybe Vinny Castilla on good days are the only Atlanta Braves I had any respect for - obviously for no good reason.) We didn't need a "this game counts" or "let's win it so the Red Sox can have home-field in the World Series."
Unfortuneately, more television exposure, interleague contests, and free agency have all made baseball a better product at the cost of watering down the All-Star game. It's still fun for me just how it is, but not everyone is programmed to win a game just to say he won a game.
And since there MUST be an incentive for everything we do and we can't function on the premise of autonomy, mastery and purpose, here's a blueprint for how to fix the Midsummer Night's Classic:
1) Each team has 30 players. Wouldn't this following sequence be nice for Little Leaguers and travel baseball squads? "Timmy, we'd like you to join the Springfield Little League All-Stars...but only because Kevin, Jake, Peter, Carlos, Kevin B., Sampson, all the kids on Main Street and Rodrigo said they weren't up for it. Whatta ya say?"
Timmy is not an all-star and, the best part is, Timmy knows it. We shouldn't add more all-stars to the gaem two days before it takes place; that's not fair to the players or the fans. Fans elect the starting nine. Ballots open Memorial Day weekend and close on July 4. That leaves 21 spots: 8 back-up position players and 13 pitchers - or however you'd like to organize it. But how would you choose the reserves and pitchers?
2) Hall of Fame Captains. Take the burden of the managers - who run their teams and organizations on a 24-hour cycle - and off any captains that are currently in the League. If you want to continue to honor the game's tradition and the players that made it so special, don't just parade them on the field. Have the captains chosen - like Ryder Cup captains - during spring training and they can acutely following the first 90 games of the baseball season to determine the All-Stars.
Could you imagine if you're a major leaguer and Hank Aaron or Joe Morgan or Cal Ripken calls you and asks you to be on your league's all-star team? Even the wealthiest of players would find that memorable.
3) Not every team is represented. As a Pirate fan, I am still incredibly embarrassed that Mike Williams was an All-Star in 2003. Not only was he terrible, he was a clubhouse cancer. Mr. Commissioner might think it is great for baseball to have all 30 organizations on the field, but the honor of knowing that you're an All-Star and not just an "everybody gets a trophy all-star" has real merit. The players and fans know it, too.
4) Play the game on Wednesday. No other All-Star game plays their exhibition two days after their season takes a break. Most teams in the NBA and NHL have four days off between games (Wednesday through Sunday) and then continue league business on the following Tuesday. That's a real break - now it's more of a pit stop. Put the Future's Game and Celebrity Softball on Monday - start the "Fastest Man Around the Bases Competition - Individual and Relay" as well as the Home Run Derby on Tuesday - play the game on Wednesday - break down and travel on Thursday.
Now that we've solved some house cleaning problems, let's get to the heart of the matter: Is this just an exhibition or are their stakes? Here's how I see it:
a) Very soon, Major League Baseball will be realigning, most likely with 15 teams in each league (I propose we contract Atlanta and the Mets, but that's unlikely.) With the realignment, there will be an interleague contest every series.
Every final weekend in August will be the only stretch of three days on the MLB calendar where all games will be interleague (it's possible, I did the breakdown.) The league that wins the All Star game gets this series at home. The season schedule would continue to be announced at it's normal winter date, but the American Interleague Weekend would either be in all NL parks or AL parks.b) The winning league can have a 33-man roster for next year's all-star game.
c) Each All-Star captain selects a charity for that league. All of the "charity jackpot" would go to that elected organization.
The great thing about baseball's All-Star game, no matter what the stakes might be, is that players will continue to put on a show without looking like they aren't trying. It's a terrific exhibition that I will continue to follow and hope that, as the game evolves, everyone elected or invited has earned the honor and understands its value to the history of the game.
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