On the All-Star Game Selection Show on FOX & It’s Selections

I made sure I watched the nationally-televised All Star Game Selection show on FOX which was shown before Baseball Night in America.

How obvious is it that the MLB is trying to think of ways to make the grand old ballgame a little bit more like the conglomerate National Football League?

Tonight you could watch a cartoonish at-best cast of Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds, and Dan Plesac tell you who our 2013 All Stars are. This was a show that was quietly done on Sunday evenings in the past and when I was a kid in the mid and early 1990’s there was no show. You read about the All-Star vote leaders in the paper and the final selections on the Monday before the game took place. You might have heard the night before on Baseball Tonight if you were one of those lucky kids who grew up with cable television (I was not).

Here are the selections:

American League

Starters
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
1B: Chris Davis, Orioles
2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS: J.J. Hardy, Orioles
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Adam Jones, Orioles
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

Pitchers
RHP: Clay Buchholz @, Red Sox
LHP: Brett Cecil, Blue Jays
RHP: Bartolo Colon *, A’s
RHP: Jesse Crain @, White Sox
RHP: Yu Darvish, Rangers
RHP: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
RHP: Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners
RHP: Justin Masterson, Indians
RHP: Joe Nathan, Rangers
LHP: Glen Perkins *, Twins
RHP: Mariano Rivera, Yankees
LHP: Chris Sale, White Sox
RHP: Max Scherzer, Tigers
RHP: Justin Verlander, Tigers

Reserves
C: Jason Castro, Astros
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Prince Fielder, Tigers
2B: Jason Kipnis, Indians
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
2B: Ben Zobrist, Rays
SS: Jhonny Peralta: Tigers
3B: Manny Machado, Orioles
OF: Nelson Cruz, Rangers
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
OF: Torii Hunter, Tigers
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

National League

Starters
C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
1B: Joey Votto, Reds
2B: Brandon Phillips, Reds
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
3B: David Wright, Mets
OF: Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals
Pitchers
LHP: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
LHP: Aroldis Chapman, Reds
LHP: Patrick Corbin, D-backs
RHP: Jose Fernandez, Marlins
RHP: Jason Grilli, Pirates
RHP: Matt Harvey, Mets
LHP: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
RHP: Craig Kimbrel, Braves
LHP: Cliff Lee, Phillies
LHP: Jeff Locke, Pirates
RHP: Adam Wainwright, Cardinals
LHP: Travis Wood, Cubs
RHP: Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

Reserves
C: Buster Posey, Giants
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs
1B: Allen Craig, Cardinals
2B: Matt Carpenter, Cardinals
2B: Marco Scutaro, Giants
SS: Everth Cabrera, Padres
SS: Jean Segura, Brewers
3B: Pedro Alvarez, Pirates
OF: Domonic Brown, Phillies
OF: Michael Cuddyer, Rockies
OF: Carlos Gomez, Brewers
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

Final vote candidates:

NL
Yasiel Puig
Ian Desmond
Freddie Freeman
Adrian Gonzalez
Hunter Pence

AL
Steve Delabar
David Robertson
Koji Uehara
Tanner Scheppers
Joaquin Benoit

The All-Star Game I’ll always love for tradition’s sake. It’s baseball’s chance to grab the nation for a minute as it takes a short breath from the nightly NFL and NBA news. It’s my favorite sport taking center-stage at midseason.

But it’s logic is all fucked up. The MLB All-Star Game is a little bit of everything. “This time it counts” but at the same time there are open discussions of Mariano Rivera starting the game, and then they’re sending whatever future Hall of Famer is on his farewell tour to the game (Chipper Jones, Cal Ripken etc.) but it also showcases the game’s young stars like Bryce Harper last season and possibly Yasiel Puig this year. Guys like Andrew McCutchen get in this year over a guy like Jay Bruce and some guys like Grant Balfour who should be there are left off the roster altogether.

At the end of the day, the thing that makes the All-Star Game flawed is what makes it great. I still get amped over seeing a young talent like Yasiel Puig take on an old dog making his last uproar like Bartolo Colon. The thought of seeing Bryce Harper against Yu Darvish is a very tempting thing for a baseball fan. At the end of the day, I’m okay with how baseball handles the All Star Game. It’s flawed, but there’s no absolute way to get everything perfect for it.

Ah yes, and we almost forgot one thing.