Baltimore Orioles: Stop trying to change the all-star game

I wish that so many people would stop trying to change the all-star game for the Baltimore Orioles and the rest of the league.

I was driving home from Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon, and I started flipping radio stations during a commercial on the official Baltimore Orioles’ post game show. I happened on another sports station that was faintly coming in from a different city, and heard the conversation about the MLB all-star game. However it wasn’t exactly what I would have wanted to hear.

Perhaps it’s because I have the liberty of covering my favorite sport, but personally I think that the MLB all-star game is the best out of every sport. Again, I’m somewhat biased. However first off keep in mind that what the NBA and NHL do is basically based off of what MLB had done for years. The three-point and slam dunk contests are derivatives of the home run derby. However perhaps it also has to do with the fact that we’re talking about what’s always been called the mid-summer classic. The all-star game isn’t up against any other sports or games, as it occurs on a Tuesday night with no other sports with which to contend.

Going back to the sports show I heard in my car, they were discussing how they could “spruce up” the all-star game. The host came at it from the perspective that we all agree that something needs to be done to make it better, we just need to figure out what. Granted I don’t know the hosts nor their show, however I suspect that these were casual baseball fans. Because I’m not sure many die-hards are complaining about the all-star game – save for one thing…

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…that being the fact that it decides home field advantage. I don’t have an issue with that, because while there is a stake in the game, the fact is that it’s still mainly an exhibition. Some die-hards don’t like it, and that’s fine. But I don’t have an issue with it – speaking for myself.

However that aside, I hear a lot of people talking about changing this and that about the all-star game. Again, I think that the die-hards and the purists are fine with how the format is now. And those should be the main folks to whom the game is marketed. One thing I hear a lot is that they should scratch the rule which says every team should be represented. Speaking for myself, I think that every fan should be able to watch the all-star game and have a member of his or her home team in the game. Otherwise only people in seven or eight cities would have a stake.

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I think that the worst idea on this particular program that I heard was someone suggest that if you record an out you should be out of the game – and your team has to play a man down. It’s baseball people, not a freak show. Nevermind the logistics of how that would work and so forth. But to me that makes no sense.

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I’m not calling out casual fans by any means. Every sport needs them to survive. Furthermore I’m not saying that they can’t have an opinion. However a lot of MLB die-hards love the all-star game the way it is. Needless to say, the all-star game as it stands now is a time-honored tradition, although it has been tweaked here and there. But overall it’s the same. And my hope is that never changes.