I had the All Star Game on from start to finish Tuesday evening, and watched 90% of it. I was supposed to be resting with my left leg up, the doctor told me Tuesday, so the infection I have in my shin could clear up faster . I needed something I could do immobile.
Not that it was compelling drama. The All-Star Game needs reform. MLB has decided to address its problems using a different strategy: Hype. The constant promotion of the ASG (and the home run derby, etc.) in the weeks leading up to the event threatens to transform the ASG from pleasant irrelevancy to obnoxious annoyance, like a public radio pledge drive. The ASG needs two things it doesn’t have.
First, it needs meaning. Tying the World Series home-field advantage to the ASG is a nice step in the right direction, clearly better than nothing, but the payoff is too distant and its beneficiary is too uncertain to generate visceral feelings. I don’t want the American League to have home field advantage if the Yankees make the WS. And since the Mariners definitely won’t be there, and the Tigers probably won’t, why should I root for the American League in the ASG?
Perhaps the benefit could be more immediate and more universal. Perhaps the schedule could be set up so every team has a three-game natural-rival interleague series a week or so after the AS break. The series is scheduled without identifying which is the home team. The team whose league wins the ASG gets to have the entire three-game series in its home stadium. Immediate payoff, universally applied — and in the case of the rivals housed in the same metro area (SF/Oak, LA/LAA, CHC/CWS, NYM/NYM, WAS/BAL) not even that much of an inconvenience. (SD/SEA, ATL/BOS, ARI/?, COL/? — these are more of a problem.)
Second, it needs a richer narrative environment. Part of this is the place of this year’s game in the historical flow of AS games. Historical recollections of who has won and lost are helpful. Could there be more attention to individual ASG histories and records? More comparisons of ASG debutants? Running story lines for who is leading as ASG MVP as the game unfolds — perhaps in-game WAR rankings displayed at every plate appearance and at the end of every inning?
Having to play 20 position players a side is fatal to in-game narratives. A couple of key players on each team should play the entire game. Trout v. Harper comparisons die when they’re both out of the game. So I’d shrink the rosters back down to 25 to make the managers deal with shortage and keep position players in the game longer.
Here’s another way to develop starker in-game narratives: designate the top vote-getters on each team as team captains, and require them to play the entire game, unless injured. I’d maybe let the team captains pick the ASG reserves, and then let the narrative be about the competition between the team captains to lead their teams to victory. In fact, I’d maybe dump the manager entirely and let the captains be player-managers of their teams. They can have real managers along as coaches (and advisers), but the team captains would have to pull the levers. Now the two captains have their egos on the line, and will be motivated to spur their teammates on to their best efforts. And with the captains in the game throughout, their decision-making will be made on-camera.
But all that is in the future, when the EFL’s reputation is more firmly established so Rob Manfred will know to turn to us for counsel.
For today, the best we can do to make the ASG meaningful is to follow our EFL All-Stars. In fact, let’s make a three-way line score: NL, AL, EFL. Which league really won the game? I separated out the EFL players for that team, and used the remaining players in the NL and AL to cover for those teams. I ignored replacement players by assuming the actual AB and IP covered the entire game somehow.
AL (19 players): W, 4.7 – 3.2 (.689) : 19 AB, 4 h, 1 2b, 1 hr, 3 w, 10 so, 2 sb, 2 sf .211, .302, .421; 6.2 IP, 2 ER. 2.90 ERA.
EFL (20 players): W, 2.6 – 2.4 (.554): 30 AB, 5 h, 1 2b, 1 hr, 2 w, 10 so, 1 sb, .167, .218, .300; 4 ip, 1 ER, 2.25 ERA.
NL (19 players): L, 2.8 – 8.5 (.355): 20 AB, 4 h, 1 hr, 1 w, 3 so; .200, . 238 .350; 7 ip, 6 er, 7.71 ERA.
Well, what do you know? It looks like there are only two major leagues after all.