In recent years, the MLB All-Star game has entered a darker age. As of late, less and less viewers are tuning into watch the midsummer classic, and these trends will continue for at least a couple more years for a few reasons:
1. For the first time in MLB history, we have shutouts in consecutive years.
2. Last night's score of 3-0 marks the first time since 1990 that less than 4 total runs were scored
3. Household names are becoming less and less common
4. FOX
The only problem that can be fixed immediately is FOX. But before I start bashing FOX, I'm going to apologize to all of my right-wing conservative friends: As a fellow republican, I am sorry. FOX has got to let go of the All Star game - give it up to somebody else, anybody*. You can always expect an hour long pre-game show for a game of this stature, but even FOX can screw that up. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess nobody is turning on the game early and saying "Oh goody, Pittbull is performing!" I'd rather see Joe Buck take on Erin Andrews in a hotdog eating contest. Keeping with the musical performances, FOX needs to stop giving their American Idol winners the job of singing the National Anthem. Give it to the troops to play, and to the fans to sing. I understand it was a classy move to let Neil Diamond perform "Sweet Caroline" during the 8th inning in Boston's rival city after the Boston Marathon Bombings, but let's get it done during the 7th inning stretch. FOX could've totally redeemed themselves by showing this idiot running on the field in the 5th inning.
All you youngers at home, this is good tackling form
As for the first three reasons, they're really out of anyone's control. If you're like me, then you watch the game to see our nations best players slap some dingers. Mix in a couple of diving catches, a 6-4-3 double play, and Torii Hunter robbing a Barry Bonds homerun, and you've got yourself a baseball match worthy of being called an All-Star game. Games like these were common in the 90's and early 2k's, but since then baseball has moved from a game of power hitting to a game of power pitching. The midsummer classic will probably not see a 13-8 score like the one in 1998 for a long time, if ever.
You can't blame the manager for setting a bad lineup, as there is virtually no way of screwing up an All-Star line up. We Americans simply need to get over then fact that Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Cal Ripken Jr., Mark McGuire, Tony Gwynn, and Chipper Jones are no longer the automatic starters we've enjoyed watching for all those years. These "household" names are gone, but this problem will take care of itself. Take note of all the players age 27 or younger who appeared in this years All-Star game:
Mike Trout (21 yrs)
Adam Jones (27 yrs)
Chris Sale (24 yrs)
Felix Hernandez (26 yrs)
Matt Moore (24 yrs)
Greg Holland (27 yrs)
Manny Machado (21 yrs)
Jason Kipnis (26 yrs)
Salvador Perez (23 yrs)
Matt Carpenter (27 yrs)
Andrew McCutchen (26 yrs)
Paul Goldschmidt (25 yrs)
Pedro Alverez (26 yrs)
Carlos Gonzales (27 yrs)
Domonic Brown (25 yrs)
Buster Posey (26 yrs)
Jean Segura (23 yrs)
Carlos Gomez (27 yrs)
Bryce Harper (20 yrs)
Matt Harvey (24 yrs)
Clayton Kershaw (25 yrs)
Patrick Corbin (23 yrs)
Craig Kimbrel (25 yrs)
Aroldis Chapman (25 yrs)
Jose Fernandez (20 yrs)
Brett Cecil (27 yrs)
Count 'em. That's 26 players below the age of 28... and those are just the guys who played in the game. Add the injured players and guys that didn't play (Yu Darvish, Freddy Freeman, ect.) and you've got something fun on the horizon. Another thing to consider, MLB experts believe that a baseball player reaches their prime at age 28, which means two things: (1) We could see all of these players returning for many years to come, (2) slightly overweight bloggers/history teachers like myself still have plenty of to make a comeback. Never fear All Star fans, the game is coming back.
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