The MLB All Star Game

So the All-Star game happened, I think, and now it is time for the second half of the season to start up. The TV results are in from the "Midsummer Classic" and the results do not look so good. This year's All Star game was the worst rated All-Star game in history. Now this could be slightly misleading, since I am fairly certain the first one was not broadcast on TV, thereby getting a 0 rating. Be that as it may, it certainly was not well watched. My question is, why is this so?

I have my theories on the subject. This year's AL All-Star team eventually included 42 players. 42!! There are 14 teams in the AL with 25 players on each team. Let's cut that down to the 9 regulars in the lineup plus maybe 4 pitchers per team with a legit shot at being an All-Star (2 starters, a setup, a closer). This means there are now realistically 182 players with a shot at being an All-Star, and 42 of the made the team. That is 23% of the league wide players that we see on a regular basis.

The NL is not much better. 39 players eventually were included on the roster. For the NL, there are 16 teams, however, we offset that by the fact that there is no DH. So really, we have only 12 players per team that I would say have a legit shot at being an All-Star. This is 192 players, and 39 made the team for a staggering 20%. Is this just becoming a participation award?

Let's say for a minute that you are a Cleveland Indians fan. You have one player on the All-Star team this year, and his name is Fausto Carmona. He is a pitcher. The roster includes 18 pitchers, for a 9 inning game. Stay Tuned Cleveland... you may see your All-Star throw a pitch, after this commercial break!! Oh how exciting. How do you expect for those fans to really tune in, unless there is really nothing else on TV. Same with Pittsburgh, the Nationals, Orioles, any team that will be very lightly represented. That is a tough sell for all but maybe 6-8 teams who have several representatives.

Now, let's say you are one of those fans of a team with multiple representatives. This probably means that your team is competitive this year, and you would love to see your league win, so your team has homefield in the WFC. Commissioner Selig would lead you to believe that this is the most important thing in the WFC. Well, after last season, the home team is 4-3 in the WFC since the All-Star rule came into being. I am not saying that home field means nothing, but the evidence is not exactly overwhelming. Also, if you have multiple players in this game, you are probably just holding your breath the whole time, hoping that none of them gets hurt. I was pretty happy when they pulled Doc, and when Howard was lifted. I was just glad to see Howard as the DH. No chance he will collide with anyone in the field when he doesn't go on the field other than to strikeout. This is good news.

But is that all? People are not watching because the game is watered down? Well, I think there is more to it than that. This year's game was a bit of a sleeper. In the first several innings, it appeared that the sun prevented any hitter from seeing the ball, and when the starters are chucking the ball at 100mph, seeing the ball is important. The greatest hitter in baseball history got a hit basically 3 in every 8 times to the plate. That still means that even an average pitcher was going to win those other 5 times. Put the sun right in the batter's eyes and put well above average pitching on the mound, and the advantage is hugely in the pitcher's side. I have the utmost respect for talented pitching, and I can enjoy a good 1-0 game (especially when Doc is throwing a perfect game in a 1-0 game), but most fans are not into that. The 1990's ESPN commercial was right, chicks dig the long ball, and there were none of those after the derby. Not exactly a made for TV drama.

Also a factor, the pregame show. Erin and I watched a movie that night, and it ended around 835 PM. I recalled the All-Star game was set to begin at 8PM, so I flipped on Fox to see how it was going. Wrong. They were preparing the first pitch. Isn't that what a pregame show is for? So that when game time comes along, the game starts. Instead, the game started at 845PM. You are losing a large amount of your east coast audience as the night wears on, and many of your more represented teams (NYY, NYM, BOS, PHI, CIN, TB, ATL, etc) are going to fall in that category. Just like the WFC, you are losing some of the general audience when these game start too late for the east coast. Let's try starting the game at 8PM in the future, and not spending an hour doing pregame shit that no one really cares much about.

Lastly, maybe the general public is speaking up about the voices on the air. The portions of the game I watched were definitely less enjoyable listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I just cannot stand those fools. It seems like I am not the only one. Would it make me not watch something as a result? Well, I did listen to a lot of the playoff games in the past on the radio, and have the TV on just for visuals. So, yeah, I would say that it makes me think about whether I really want to watch something if I know Buck is doing it. What I want to know is, are there pro-Buck people out there? Many people complain about him, but he still calls many games. Do some people like him?

Anyway, just my thoughts on the ASG. Not exactly the most exciting night in sports. Of course it beats Chris Berman saying "back" 1,000 times the night before during the home run derby, and it also beats the ESPY's the night afterward. But the competition is not exactly too tough in that crowd.