2008 All-Star Game: Final Thoughts

So, it came, it dragged on, it really dragged on, and finally, mercifully ended. The 2008 All-Star Game will go down in history for many reasons; Yankee Stadium's farewell tour, Dan Uggla's uggly night, and the fact that it took 15 innings and almost 5 hours to finish. Hopefully it will also go down for its inevitable clash of the two major themes that surround the game; the desire to showcase as many players as possible and the desire to win home-field advantage in the World Series.

Look, Baseball, in regards to the All-Star Game, you need to shit or get off the pot. It is obvious that the All-Star Game cannot be a legitimate meaningful baseball game and still have the Little League-esque "everybody plays!" culture that the All-Star Games of my adolescence had.

While I'll admit the last few years All-Star Games have been better than those from the 1990s, there was still a simple pleasure of watching players from your team take the field on the national stage, regardless of the score (a la Roberto Hernandez's 1 inning of scoreless relief in the A.L's loss in 1996). If the All-Star Game moved away from the exhibition spirit, you would rob many fans and players the special moment of running out on national television in front of a packed house.

It appears, though, that making the games count for more than league bragging rights has had the desired effect on the game. Instead of lackadaisical, meaningless games we have been treated to several well played games over the last few years. This year, however, trying to keep that spirit alive almost came back to bite Terry Francona, Clint Hurdle, and Bud Selig in the ass. Selig has already said he told the managers to manage their pitchers wisely, but by game's end, both bullpens were empty, meaning Brad Lidge (a closer) and Scott Kazmir (who threw 100+ pitches Sunday) would have to either continue pitching or be relieved by a position player and be forced to play the field. Selig also noted he said the game would be played to a conclusive end.

I don't understand what Selig and MLB had to gain there, other than keeping egg off their face. Why would risking the great story the Tampa Bay Rays have been be worth risking the career of a young bright star at 2 AM when both the park was emptying and TVs were being turned off? What would baseball have to gain by hurting the Phillies, a team locked in a tight race with the Mets?

In retrospect the game was entertaining, both for natural drama extra innings provide, but also wondering how much longer the game could go on before being called a tie? Hopefully a few years down the line, we'll look back at the 2008 game and view it as the turning point, when the All-Star Game went back to being more and more like a real game.