All-Star Game

What a game. First off, congrats to the American League for this year's victory (that's 12 years without a loss, for those keeping score at home). Use home field wisely.

The only comment I have about this year's game is this: everyone get off Dan Uggla's back. None of the three (yeah, 3, it happens) errors mattered as the NL got out of all those jams. The second one would've been hard for anyone to handle as it was hit ridiculously hard. And the third one took a stupid bounce. If that bounce happened on the second one, Uggla would've had a broken nose. He messed up, it didn't amount to anything, leave him alone. Hopefully he doesn't let it get to him, as he's one of the most talented young players coming up right now. Go torch 'em in the second half, Dan.

This sentiment has been uttered by a large contingency recently, so I figure that it's my turn. The All-Star game needs to be fixed. Don't get me wrong, the game in and of itself was awesome. However, the fact that it matters for something detracts from the aura of the game itself. It was established as an exhibition in the middle of the season for fans to come out and see their favorite players compete in a game for fun, with nothing on the line, so we could see them being themselves and having fun. While they still have fun, it definitely doesn't have the feel of an exhibition anymore, because it isn't one. It matters. Because it matters, we have to stick to traditional rules.

Not that there's anything wrong with rules. They just mess stuff up sometimes. This year, for instance. Game goes 15 innings. Both sides run out of hitters. Both teams use pitchers that they had no intention of using (Brandon Webb, Scott Kazmir). Say we change a rule. Say we allow position players to come back into the game once all others have been used. We could use them to pitch (i.e. Wade Boggs, right). This may not result in the best pitching exhibition, but it would be incredibly entertaining. If it were strictly an exhibition, it would just add to the fun and enjoyment of the game. And, managers wouldn't be put into the sticky situations of using players they don't want to. Kazmir and Webb could've kept resting, and that tie in '02 would not have happened.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com wrote an excellent article about other improvements for the All-Star game, all of which I approve of:http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings

In the end, I just want to go back to watching a game where everyone can enjoy every moment because it's just fun baseball with nothing to play for except the love of the game. Here's to missing the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith, and his pregame ritual:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztz0NLY_MLI