Lackluster All-Star Festivities Could Continue in 2011
By Brian Phair
For the 1st time since 1996, the NL All-Star team can go home winners. The victory secures the NL home field advantage in the World Series, which in the past has made a huge difference. Of the last 24 World Series champions, 19 had home field advantage. The game itself was a pitcher’s duel, with all 4 of the runs coming on 1 hit and 1 sacrifice fly. Now that the game is over, let’s take a look back at the weekend of All-Star festivities and look forward to 2011.
Overall, I think this year’s All-Star break was only okay. The weekend seemed to lack the normal zip in my mind and left me wanting more. It started with the Home Run Derby, which I felt fell below normal standards. With so many fresh faces hitting, it resulted in low 1st round totals, including just 1 hitter with 10+ homeruns. The second round featured Big Papi David Ortiz hitting 13 and Hanley Ramirez with 12, while 1st round leader Corey Hart hitting an embarrassing 0 jacks. The final was solid, given the mentor/mentee relationship between Hanley Ramirez and Ortiz, and Ortiz tied the record with 11 bombs and secured the trophy.
The Derby was missing the same fun, jokester players who would come and towel off players in the middle of their round and fake bow down to the hitters, etc. Those pieces of the Derby that I personally enjoy the most were barely visible. The great storylines like Josh Hamilton’s high school baseball coach throwing him pitches 2 years ago weren’t there and many big names were absent from the proceedings. Over the last several years, we have become accustomed to bigger and better home runs and home run totals and this year fell short of the mark.
The All-Star Game itself also lacked a lot of gusto. Because of the West coast time difference, the game began in odd shadows, which made it virtually impossible for the hitters to see anything until the 4th inning. As a result of the sun and incredibly talented pitching, there was no action in the game until the New York Yankees Robinson Cano of the AL squad hit a sac fly in the 5th inning to make the score 1-0. In the 7th, after loading the bases, MVP Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann had the only big hit of the ball game and cleared the bases with a double. The AL team threatened in the 9th, but McCann’s hit turned out to be the game winner with the final score being 3-1.
I enjoy talented pitching, but Tuesday night’s game was for the most part a snoozer. It was one dominate pitcher after another shutting down the powerful offenses from both sides. I’m not expecting a well-played, incredible game, but a game filled with stars that resulted in no homers and barely any offense isn’t as interesting to watch in my opinion. The only good story line of the entire game was at the end, when the NL snapped the ridiculously long losing streak. Considering the locale for next year, we may see 2 lackluster games in a row.
As we look forward to next year, there is already controversy. The game is scheduled to be played in Phoenix, Arizona, which has caused many players to preliminarily boycott due to the recently passed immigration laws. Milwaukee Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo made his opinion very clear on Monday, “If the game is in Arizona, I will totally boycott.” Other players like Jose Bautista are unsure about how they feel just yet, but know they will support their community. “It’s a really delicate issue. Hopefully, there are some changes in the law before then. We have to back up our Latin communities. If I do get chosen, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Unless there are changes to the immigration law before July 2011, there will be groups of players taking a stand and pulling their names out of the game and Home Run Derby. As much as some would like to separate politics and sports, this is like an issue of equality, which has been a push of Major League Baseball for years now. The league is comprised of players from dozens of countries with varying ethnic and social backgrounds, many of whom immigrated to the US to play baseball, so an issue of immigration is extremely relevant and extremely serious. By having the game in Arizona, the sport could be taking a step backwards on pushing diversity and equality and alienate some of the massive fan base and players.
A year is a long time and there have already been pushes to change the law as it currently stands, but these lawsuits have a tendency to drag on. The real question in my mind is what does Bud Selig and the Players Association do if come April there still is no revision to the Arizona immigration law? Do they alienate Arizona and move the game in order to save face, or do they just go on with the proceedings knowing that many players will not show up? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but for some reason my gut tells me this is only the beginning of the conversation with a long road ahead of us.