Pitch on Sunday? No All-Star game for you!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Major League Baseball's Special Committee for On-Field Matters has recommended several structural and procedural modifications to the All-Star Game. The changes have been agreed to by the Major League Baseball Players Association and will be in effect for the 2010 Midsummer Classic in Anaheim.

The changes are as follows:

* The designated hitter rule will now be utilized by both teams regardless of whether the All-Star Game is played in an American League or a National League ballpark. The National League's starting DH will be selected by the N.L. All-Star manager, while the American League's starting DH will continue to be selected via fan balloting.
* Any pitcher selected to an All-Star Team who starts a regular season game on the Sunday immediately preceding the All-Star Game will not be eligible to pitch in the All-Star Game and will be replaced on the roster. The pitcher who is ineligible to play in the All-Star Game will be recognized as an All-Star, will be welcome to participate in All-Star festivities and will be introduced in uniform.
* Rosters will be expanded from 33 players to 34 players, consisting of 21 position players and 13 pitchers. Last year's 33-man rosters consisted of 20 position players and 13 pitchers.
* In addition to the existing injured catcher rule, one additional position player who has been selected to an All-Star Team will be designated by each All-Star manager as eligible to return to the game in the event that the last position player at any position is injured.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Can we make this game any more meaningless? Yes, apparently.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Meaningless? It determines whether we have home field advantage in the World Series! And based on this past homestand, I'll take that home field advantage.

Wishful thinking, of course!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

The problem with the last couple games, of course, is that the home field advantage was not decided by the best players, but by the lone team representatives penciled into the game in the late innings.

[Gwreck]

I really love the All-Star game but this is idiotic.

(Cue responses about how the All-Star game is terrible, meaningless, hasn't captured anyone's attention since the '70s, etc...)

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

You won't get that response from me! I love the All-Star Game.

[Gwreck]

I think you and I may be the only ones. I have already started a small savings fund for 2013 when the game is at Shea.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I haven't given a shit about the all-star game in years, and when you start making up special rules just for this game, well it becomes some bastard cousin of baseball and I care even less. How long before they institute the Olympic extra-innings crap to prevent players from having to keep playing longer and maybe getting tired, or god-forbid from getting hurt?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Seo -- they won't do that in MLB -- longer games mean more selling opportunities! Sadly, I suspect this is a part of such decisions.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It's been probably about 20 years since I've watched an All-Star game. I haven't the slightest interest.

[Fman99]

Interleague play:All-Star Game::Video:Radio Star

[Valadius]

Wait, what? What the hell does pitching on the previous Sunday have to do with pitching in the All-Star Game?

[seawolf17]

They don't pitch in the game anyway, because their regular manager would shank the ASG manager; this just formalizes it and gives the manager a guy on the roster than he could theoretically actually use in the game.

[seawolf17]

The DH thing, however, is fuckin' stupid.

[metirish]

seawolf17 wrote: The DH thing, however, is fuckin' stupid.

Yeah is what really irks me , no DH in an NL park, it's dumb.

As for me, I enjoy ther All-Star game , at least the introductions and the game itself until the wholesale changes to get al the players in the game.

Should be swet this year when Big Pelf starts.

[soupcan]

seawolf17 wrote: The DH thing, however, is fuckin' stupid.

See this is the one thing that I think does make sense. To me the All-Star game is the one time that the DH works. Who wants to watch pitchers hit in an exhibition game featuring the game's best players?

If you're going to have a DH in major league baseball at all, then this game is absolutely when it should be used.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm with soupcan on this one. If the DH was only used in the All-Star game, I'd be quite happy.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Well, using the pitcher in the order was a way to work in a lot of guys as pinch-hitters.

The DH rule should be called The Big Papi Rule because I'm sure they were looking for a way to get people like Ortiz -- popular player who only DHs into the games when they are in the NL parks without making him take the field for the first time in years.

I would not be stunned if the next rule change is forcing the DH to be used in the NL parks during interleague play.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'd like to see the ASG at Citi myself. I am sure I won't however.

When I was a kid I used to see if i could do the math to figure out the next time the ASG would come to Shea, since the first time (64) was earlier than I was born. I would have totally flipped out for a chance to have gone in say, 1976 or something.

I still sorta like the ASG for that reason and I hate that the commish by supposedly making it "count" more has made such a joke of it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The first All-Star Game: three pitchers each, pinch-hitters only where strategically appropriate, and defensive replacements for Babe Ruth and Chuck Klein. I approve.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS193307060.shtml

[RealityChuck]

Valadius wrote: Wait, what? What the hell does pitching on the previous Sunday have to do with pitching in the All-Star Game?

This merely codifies standard practice.

The Sunday starter is pitching on one day's rest. He's likely to be ineffective, and is at greater risk to hurt himself. They always sit out the game (or decline to participate).

[bmfc1]

Since the ASG "counts", as it determines home field advantage for the WS, then the best players should play and there should be no restrictions on who plays. Specifically, 1) the game should be moved to Wednesday. The randomness of who pitches on Sunday should not determine who pitches in a game of such import; and, 2) each team should not automatically be represented. It's not fair to fans of, say, the Pirates, but the game is allegedly important so the teams should be made up of the best players, regardless of uniform. This would also lessen an advantage that the AL enjoys--with 2 fewer teams, it can have 2 more of the best players.