The MLB All-Star Game isn’t like its fellow pro sports counterparts.
In the NFL and NBA, these star-packed contests are essentially fun exhibitions with no real value. The players on whichever team comes away victorious receive a nice pay bonus to provide a incentive to actually try, but outside of this, the games are always less-than-spectacular.
Take the 2013 NFL Pro Bowl, for example. Final score: NFC 62, AFC 35.
Though it was a high-scoring game, it was everything but exciting.
The MLB All-Star Game is a different breed than the Pro Bowl or the NBA equivalent. Not only is the event a three-day ordeal, featuring the MLB Futures Game, the classic Home Run Derby, and the final meaningful contest to cap off the festivities, but the winner also gets a big prize in return.
Whichever squad wins receives home field advantage in the World Series for its respective league. This leads to managers and players voting in any and all extra help they’ll need to come away victorious Tuesday night.
But there has always been one issue with the MLB All-Star Game. Is it a popularity contest, or are fans actually starting to understand the reality of how big the game actually is?
The answer appears to be a little of both.
For years, both the American League and National League lineups were filled to the brim with big-market team members and players.
From 2002-2009, with the exception of 2007, four or more players stemming from either Boston or New York were in the starting AL lineup, including a whopping six in 2002, 2008 and 2009. Since 2003, St. Louis has had 42 players be named to the NL roster.
If the 2013 All-Star Game is proving anything, though, it’s that times are certainly changing.
The beginning of the transformation from popularity to efficiency began in 2010, as smaller-market squads began to see increased representation on the national stage.
Players like Justin Morneau of Minnesota, Evan Longoria from Tampa Bay and Josh Hamilton from Texas began to eclipse the names that were mainstays on the all-pro rosters, proving that fans were actually watching the first half of the season.
In 2013, the rosters look a tad different than they did only a decade before.
The likes of Baltimore, Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota will all be represented on the AL starting roster. Colorado and Washington will finally get some recognition on the NL side.
On the rosters lie only four total starters from the Yankees, Red Sox or Cardinals. Times are certainly changing.
And when the time came to debate whether or not Yasiel Puig, the 22-year old Cuban superstar outfielder for the Dodgers, deserved to be the final vote-in for the NL roster after constant hype from ESPN, the fans decided on Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman instead.
In the end, it looks like baseball fans are finally coming to some form of sense with regards to the All-Star Game.
Home field advantage is always bonus for any given squad, and having that benefit in the World Series is something every fan should look at when voting players on to the All-Star roster.
Believe it or not, the All-Star Game actually matters, and loading a roster with the same players year after year is a worse decision than hiring Bobby Valentine to manage the Red Sox.