Apple Pie

[eggwards]

I watched a little of the Home Run Derby last night as I was eating dinner at Chili's (alone *cries*), and I think that this once cute sidebar to Baseball's All-Star Game has really fallen into being a real bore.

The biggest problem was that there was no star power. Now I haven't been following baseball as much this year as usual, but I still have a pretty good idea who the big sluggers are, and - they weren't there. Sure, there was Pudge Rodriguez, the hometown guy there in Detroit, and the longest playing guy in the exhibition, but where was Sammy Sosa? Has getting off of steroids finally showed that he's not a natural homerun hitter?

A few years ago, you would have seen Sammy, and Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire bashing the ball in this competition, and it was worth watching. This year they tried to manipulate the competition to have each player from a different country. Nice gesture, but it just showed that the big names bowed out. There was also something about some gold baseball that they would try to hit out of the park, trying to avoid making the last out. I didn't understand what it meant, and I don't think anyone else did.

They try to make this more interesting by having them play for people who will win a house if their player wins the competition, so the commentators, who are struggling to find enough to talk about during the long competition, are talking to these regular folks as they root on the unknown players. We at home, not winning a house for watching this, don't care.

This competition goes on for two and a half hours. About the length of a real game. It's way too long. And to think last year, when the game was in Houston I waited outside the stadium watching the balls sail out of the ballpark. Last night, I didn't even watch the end of it.

As for tonight's game, the All-Star Game, well, I'll probably catch a little of it, but it's still a game that means just a little more that the Basketball All-Star game, and I still think it's stupid that they make home field advantage for the World Series contingent on this. Why would the Tampa Bay player even care? He won't be going to the World Series.

Baseball's a crazy game.

Comments

[murphy.livejournal.com]

go phillies!

i would totally do it with bobby abreu.

[paladincub21.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with yout totally. ESPN (both on television and in print) has nicely documented the issues with the Home Run Derby. About the insane lovefest with the home runs and how the steroid scandal places even more discomfort on hitting for power. Most sluggers that we prefer to watch (Jim Thome, Giambi, Pujols, A-Rod, Sheffield etc etc) don't want anything to do with it anymore. It brings too many questions to the table, and even if they have always been clean, its not worth the aggravation. Putting on a power display these days is bad for your health. Also, its tiring. Taking 30-40 swings in a couple of hours is hard (i remember myself swinging at 24 balls a few weeks ago and the soreness that occurred in my back after a couple of days.). The money isn't worth it to these $10 million men. I'd assume they'd prefer the day off. I'm ok with all this. I like watching the home run derby, but its not a big deal to me. Yes it was cool to watch Big Mac crush every thing into the streets, or Sosa swing way too hard at everything that came close; but all those events put undue pressure, silly expectations and egos way too high. This may be a little apologist of me but i'd argue that our(fans) love affair of the home run, the money we pay home run hitters, and the value we(fans and the league) placed on these sluggers contributed to the players desire to juice up.

Yes, I also agree about making it count. But i think it can work, if they take the next obvious step. Forget about the every team must be representative. Imagine a "real" game between the leagues consisting of the top teams this year playing for home field. You got like 3 players from St louis, a cub or too, half of the nationals, most of the marlin pitching staff against the AL sluggers from boston and nyc and the white sox. Players from teams in the hunt would make it exciting. Following the 40-odd year old notion that every team should have at least one player is quaint, but counterproductive to the aims of making it ultra-competitve.

Go all the way to making it like a real (playoff) game, or just leave it as a all-exhibition no rules type thing.

[tonka-cub.livejournal.com]

Awww, I'd go to dinner with you if I were in your neck of the woods. I actually might be that way later this year. I have a good friend in Sugarland that I need to visit. Let me know if you need a dinner partner when I'm there!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Phil, when you're in town, or I'm in Torono, trust me I'll definitely make time for dinner!