ASG Fix
Yesterday I made a complaint about the All-Star Game, most specifically the number of players on the two teams.
Because of injuries and pitching rules and just some players not wanting to go to the game, 84 players have been named All-Stars this year. That’s just too many.
But it’s not fair to just sit back and complain about something without at least making some attempt to suggest a better/different way of doing things. So here are a couple of suggestions, all which have some level of fault, which will make the Mid-Summer Classic classic again.
Reduce Roster Size: We do not need 34 players per team. This is one baseball game, not a best of 7 series. A roster of 28 players is more than enough. I would have 18 players, two for each position including DH, and 10 pitchers. If this means that some players will play 7, 8 or even 9 innings, so be it. If Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and Carl Yastrzemski and Dave Winfield and Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, all HOFers, can play 9 innings so can Rickie Weeks and Josh Hamilton.
Players Should Select Starters: Yes I said it, take away the fan vote, at least for the starters. Let the players from each league vote in the starters. Or weight the two sets of votes, fans and players, equal. Top two from each position get in. Which leads directly to the next “fix”.
Not Every Team Needs Representation: Send only the best players to the game. Kansas City’s Aaron Crow is a fine young pitcher, but I’m pretty sure I could find 10 better pitchers that I would want on my all-star roster.
The Best Fix: Move the game to Monday night. This isn’t the 1940’s, players don’t have to take a train from one side of the country to the other to get to the game. Schedule all Sunday games before the ASG as day games. Players can then get to the ASG site on Sunday night for the Monday game, then give all players the next three days off, T-W-R, resume play across the league on Friday. Let’s face it, the biggest beef most of the players have is losing out on the 3 days rest. So give it to them. We get a good game on Monday night while the players are still in baseball mode and they get their 3 day break.
WrigleyRegular
It would make it so much more relevant if people would listen to you! Unfortunately, they’ll never take away the popular vote, because when people vote, they become invested and are more likely to watch, which benefits advertising. Blah, blah, blah. But, in a perfect world…
I could still live with some type of fan vote. But do we really need to give everyone 27 votes each.Sorta gives the players in big cities an edge. Although, I would say the fans probably got 13 of the 16 voted on starters correct this year.
Congratulations on your front page feature Russel! Very, very well deserved!
Sadly, like toosoxy, I don’t think you’re ever going to get rid of the popular vote or diminish it’s importance. But I completely agree with you that the player vote should be the most important vote or even the only vote. I also like your idea about reducing the number of players and playing on Monday. Hey, Selig *whistles and waves* Over here. Look over here.
– Kristen
Thanks Kristen. I didn’t know I made the front page, I rarely look there since the switch over. I really think that moving the game to Monday and giving all players T-W-R off would be the best move for the ASG itself. But the league doesn’t want to go dark for 3 days during the middle of summer and let people remember that other summer activities are out there..
I agree with you. I think it should only be the best players and a player vote not a fan vote. Well said!
—Mark Gauthier
http://cubden.mlblogs.com/
Oh, Congratulations!!!!
—Mark
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