How to Fix the MLB All Star Game

By Scott

Truthfully, I don't think there's a whole lot wrong with baseball's All Star Game, but every major outlet that has criticized it appear to disagree. The pre-game festivities are a bit too much, but still it's great to see the best pitchers in the game duel against the best hitters. And, the last 5 All Star Games have been decided by 2 runs or less. But, there are still a few things that MLB could do to really spice up the mid-summer classic:

1. Forget American League vs National League, give us North America vs. The World. The NHL did this a few times for their All Star Game (they really need to go back to it), and it saw pretty solid success. There's nothing Americans love more than rooting for America. On July 4th Americans morph into hot dog eating fans, not because they give the slightest bit of concern over hot dogs, but because an American is competing against a foreign power. So, when Joey Chestnut beats Kobayashi, Americans love it. Of course they forget about it the next day, but as long as their attention is grabbed for the few hours, the MLB can call success.

2. Most importantly: Do not allow the game to decide anything important. Giving World Series home field advantage to the league that wins the game is a travesty. Especially considering that a Royals' pitcher / Pirates' hitter matchup could decide the fate of World Series home field advantage. The World Series team with the best record should have home field advantage. If you want to give the game a competitive edge, give the winning team bonus money. It's a true wonder why players don't earn extra money to play in the game, and if they were given a nice bonus for winning, the game would be competitive.

3. Start the pre-game festivities earlier, or get rid of them. The All Star Game now features so much stuff, that the game itself ends up running past 11:30, sometimes later. All of the first pitch, America the Beautiful, and hometown legends stuff is great, but start it a half hour before the All Star Game broadcast begins. This allows the game to end around 11, or possibly earlier.