This Bud’s Not For You
The All-Star game always seems to bring out fear and loathing in me, much of which centers around Bud Selig. When you look at the ledger, Major League Baseball has flourished during Selig’s stewardship and the All-Star game is a show for sure. Allow me to make a comment: pffffffttttt!!
While it’s true the game has prospered from a financial perspective, Selig’s overarching meddling has and continues to inflict both subtle and sometimes profound changes to the game that are not for the better.
Exhibit #1: The team that wins the All-Star game hands their league home field advantage.
On any planet in the universe, how is this fair? Baseball, of all the sports, is a 162 game proving ground and grinding battle of attrition that rewards a team for persevering through injury and adversity . Playoffs excluded, you can’t get hot for a little while in baseball and get to the mountain top. It’s survival of the fittest and to the victor goes the spoils. Tell me why the winner of a one-game fashion show gets to tilt the table in their league’s favor, especially when baseball by far has the most distinct home field advantage dynamic in all of professional sports? It’s wrong, period and end of story. And by the way, the fitting coda to this little number s that Selig made this decision unilaterally after he declared the 2002 All-Start game a tie.
"If the second half of the 2012 schedule plays out like the first half, either the Yankees or the Rangers with MLB leading .612 and .605 winning percentages respectively will get screwed if they make it to the series."
Exhibit #2: Expanding the playoff lineup and in the process killing playoff baseball interest in November.
Reason number one. No one but hardcore baseball fans care about baseball in November and those numbers are dwindling. You know why? Most of our favorite football teams are in the throes of a drive to the NFL playoff race.
Reason number two. Extending the playoffs with more teams doesn’t garner more fans. After a long season of following your team most baseball fans are exhausted and actually are ready to have the season end, especially if their team doesn’t make the cut. As The Bleacher Report’s John Mullen pointed out, “One thing is for sure: nobody wants to watch baseball while they’re having Thanksgiving dinner.”
Exhibit #3: The World Baseball Classic
What a profoundly ill-conceived sham. It’s dangerous for the players and potentially dilutes the MLB product by having players risk injury while being forced into ambassadorial duties across the globe. Two years ago both Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia came back injured or early and on the verge of injury before Opening Day.
Exhibit #4: Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong
Last night Robinson Cano was booed mercilessly by Kansas City fans after the Royals’ Billy Butler was passed over for the Home Run Derby competition by AL Derby captain Cano. Hey, as long as it’s not racial, violent or vile, who gives a rip what fans do if they pay the righteous price per ticket to attend the Derby (another totally dumb and boring idea). If Selig really did want to stick his nose in for the better and use his heavy-handed powers to make it right, review the list of Derby choices and approve it on the condition that the home town boy gets in the in running.
But no, Selig just had to stick his nose in and say, “While I understand Kansas City and I understand the whole Billy Butler thing, I really felt very badly last night.” Hey Bud, no one cares.
Ban Pete Rose. Allow the hiring of Mark McGwire. Open the season in Japan. Do I really need to go on? This Bud is decidedly not for you.