Apter's All-Star Countdown: #2 MLB All-Star Game

Even though baseball is my favorite sport to watch and play, I cannot say that it offers the best all-star festivites. Sure the Home Run Derby has been exciting with Howard winning and Abreu as well a few years back. I am honestly not a huge fan of the celebrity softball game and I have not really found many people who are. There are a few things I like and dislike about this game and I will explain...

First of all, I am not in favor of what is on the line here. Home field advantage for the World Series?...uh, excuse me? With baseball being over 162 games including playoffs, I do not see how the fate of home field for the Fall Classic should be decided by a mid-season slugfest of the stars. The only positive about this is that there is something to play for, unlike the other three all-star games. If you ask me, in every sport, home field for the championship game/series should be determined by the team with the best record. What if a wild card team with 85 wins made it against a dominating team with 90-95 wins?...and just because of the fate of the all-star game, home field would favor the wild card team. I just do not find that very ethical for a team that may have just barely made the playoffs to have that advantage over a team that may have dominated all year. I am always finding myself clueless over what could be played for/put on the line if it were not home-field advantage. It is a tough situation but something that I believe should be changed to favor the team with the better record. The fact is Bud Selig is not going to do anything to change baseball for the better, so there really isn't much to be done.

As for the side events at the all-star game, the Home Run Derby rises above the rest. The derby is something fun to watch, even if you do not have someone to root for in the end. Seeing a guy blast over 15 homers in a round is just amazing to watch. I believe that there is a huge flaw to this though. I am against the whole first round not carrying over. Perfect example: 2008...Josh Hamilton hits a record 28 homers in the first round and none of that even counted towards the coming rounds as he eventually fell to Justin Morneau in the finals. Sure, some players may save some power for the later rounds but 28?!...he should have been crowned champ after the first round. When you see something as rare as that and do not reward it, it really angers me. Some players cannot even hit 10 home runs in one season. I do like watching the derby but on occasion it is these little things that make no sense. 28 homers...should have been HR Derby Champ. The other events for this game are not too spectacular. I enjoy watching some old ball players play softball and get a good laugh at some celebrities swing and miss at the plate.

Lastly, another thing i like about this game is that the fans get to pick the person to get the final roster spot on their respective teams. This really shows how fans can get behind their players and their city to send them to represent in the all-star game.

Overall, the viewing experience for this game is great. I love the game of baseball but I cannot say it is the best one to watch. The home field advantage thing and the glitch in the home run derby may be minor to some viewers but I find it to be a turn off in terms of the games rating. I can sayt that I anxiously await the day this gameuntil it comes to Citizens Band Park but I believe the venues are chosen already through 2015.

Only one game left on the countdown and no, as much as I like Nascar, it is not the all-star race...The countdown continues with why I think the NBA All-Star game is the best out there...coming soon...

*photo courtesy of MLB.com