O/T - All Star game

[byrone]

Originally Posted by ErikV

I posted this in the watercooler section of the board
yesterday and got a couple of responses. I guess I'll
chime in here as well.

Every year around this time I get a bit conflicted about the
All-Star break. With a 4-day Fanfest and the Home Run Derby,
the All-Star Game itself is now just a backdrop to baseball
seasons' half-way point. The baseball establishment says the
game is an exhibition for the fans, but as a purist, I'm almost
sickened by the entire spectacle.

My 11 year old son is captivated by All-Star week and as a
way to bond with him, I watched the start of the Home Run
Derby yesterday. The ESPN pre-contest show focused on the
homerun in baseball. In interviewing former players like Johnny
Bench and Joe Torre these former stars commented how back in
their playing days one wouldn't dare admire watching a homerun
or strut around the bases after hitting a homerun. In essence,
former players would be showing up the pitcher by doing this.

All of this has changed. Now, with a sense of entitlement,
homeruns are hit and you have to watch players egos blow up
until they're done celebrating. I think that's why Barry Bonds
was so hated. Ozzie Guillen summed up today's view pretty
well during the pre-contest by saying each player who hits a
homerun should be able to watch "their" homerun without
consequence.

Long forgotten are the days when players would take great
pride playing in an All-Star Game. Now, players such as Derek
Jeter refused to play in the All-Star Game so he could give
himself extra time to recover from his recent stint in the disabled
list!

Due to the All-Star Game getting out of just being a just a big
game of graba$$, the Commissioner had to act a few years back
and put some incentive back into the game, so the All-Star Games
"really counts."

I don't really care anymore who wins the All-Star Game, nor who
plays in it. I think the whole thing is redicilious and the joke is
on the fans. Thanks for letting me vent.

ErikV

If I'm a pitcher and a guy admires a HR off me, he gets drilled next pitch.

Simple as that

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by byrone

If I'm a pitcher and a guy admires a HR off me, he gets drilled next pitch.

Simple as that

+1 The batter gets the 'ol bowtie the next time he comes up

[Scott Garner]

I thought I would share some of the thoughts that I had about the 2011 All Star Game while watching it on Tuesday:

- As previously stated, the Sunday "no pitch rule" really handcuffed the AL in terms of not fielding our best starting pitching. I truly believe that the game was over before the 1st pitch was thrown. The NL was represented by nothing but A++ starters, the cream of the NL crop...

- When I was younger I genuinely looked forward to watching the All Star game. Getting to see the major leagues' best on one field was always amazing to me. I have personally attended 4 All Star games in person; 1989 at Anaheim (yes this game was awesome, but everybody failed to mention that Nolan Ryan also got the win in this game, which was extra special for a die hard Angels fan), 1992 at San Diego, 1997 at Cleveland and 2010 at Anaheim. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3, but 2010 was somewhat of a snorefest...

- Having the actual All Star game start at 8:30 EST is rough for people that live in the eastern time zone and have to work the next day. It's not unusual for these games to end near midnight...

- Is it just me, or has interleague play completely eliminated the uniqueness of the All Star game?

I look forward to hearing from the rest of you have to say about some of my comments....

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

- Having the actual All Star game start at 8:30 EST is rough for people that live in the eastern time zone and have to work the next day. It's not unusual for these games to end near midnight...

And what about the people in the Pacific time zone? A good percentage of people are not home from work before 5:30.

[celoknob]

Originally Posted by Brendan

And what about the people in the Pacific time zone? A good percentage of people are not home from work before 5:30.

Especially all those "non-professionals" with tatoos and body piercings.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Brendan

And what about the people in the Pacific time zone? A good percentage of people are not home from work before 5:30.

Brendan,
I hear you as I grew up in So Cal, but there has to be a happy medium.
Play the game on the weekend, flip-flop the viewing time so that the east and west are at an equal disadvantage as far as viewing times.

I do realize that this all boils down to advertising bucks and what works best for the people that pay for the ads as far as viewer participation....

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Brendan,
I hear you as I grew up in So Cal, but there has to be a happy medium.
Play the game on the weekend, flip-flop the viewing time so that the east and west are at an equal disadvantage as far as viewing times.

I do realize that this all boils down to advertising bucks and what works best for the people that pay for the ads as far as viewer participation....

And the happy medium is probably 8:30 Eastern. The greatest amount of people can watch it when it starts at that time. If not, I'm sure they would choose a different one. They could play it on the weekend and it would probably work out well. But hasn't the all star game always been during the week?

[HercDriver]

I finally got a chance to read the link and saw that the scholarships are for ROTC students, not the Academy. That makes more sense, as ROTC sluggos like me needed all the help we could get! I did ROTC, then 20 yrs in the AF, so I suppose I have a new appreciation for that nasty beard. I'm also a Grateful Dead fan, and I'm pretty sure Jerry Garcia's beard could hide more than Wilson's...

Take Care,
Geno

[sox1903wschamp]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

- Is it just me, or has interleague play completely eliminated the uniqueness of the All Star game?

This sums it up. Don't think I have watched an All Star game since they went to interleague.

[HercDriver]

How does Wilson fund AF Academy scholarships? The Academy is free.

Cheers,
Geno