OT: MLB All Star Game- should home field in WS be on the line?

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Now that the Tigers wrapped up their first half of the season today (46-43), the ASG is looming.

The Futures game is going on right now on MLB featuring two Tigers prospects including one who should be on the team right now in Joe Jimenez.

But the winner of Tuesday's ASG gets home field in the World Series. Should it be like that? 

It certainly makes the game more interesting, and I like the idea. But I think they should change the selection process big time. I think if home field in the World Series is on the line, you have to get rid of the fans picking the starters and have them pick the reserves instead once the starters are named. 

What say you?

This is the one all star game in this country where the players actually try and where the result does matter. Even if they got rid of the home field rule, this would still be the best all star game.

 

 

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SteelBrad

July 10th, 2016 at 7:29 PM ^

Yes. It has made the game more competitive and I don't believe overall record should be the determining factor.

If the All-Star game didn't decide I would say the better interleague record would be a better determine factor that overall record.



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rob f

July 11th, 2016 at 12:48 AM ^

should have been discontinued years ago.

No way should the WS home-field advantage hinge on the results of an exhibition game between two popularity-stocked teams.

Looking at the starting lineups, why don't they just call this game the Red Sox Lite vs. Cubs Lite.

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MadMatt

July 11th, 2016 at 7:30 AM ^

I'm OK with using the All Star Game to decide home field.  (Ask the Pirates how much home field matters when the other team is starting its Cy Young Award winner.)  But fan balloting has turned into competitive ballot stuffing.

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Billy Seamonster

July 10th, 2016 at 7:32 PM ^

It absolutely should not be. Players back out due to nagging injuries. Pitchers can't pitch because they haven't had enough rest. Baseball is the one sport without real contact, therefore it's a still a real game and entertaining instead of football and hockey. It should no bearing on who has World Series home advantage. The game was made for the fans and fans vote on players that some should not be playing/starting in.

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MGoGrendel

July 10th, 2016 at 8:11 PM ^

Teams back out, too. If the ASG was important, the Giants would rest Bumgarner tonight and have him pitch in the ASG (he was supposed to go). The Giants figure a regular season game against the DBacks and a quicker start after the break are more important to their playoff success than an ASG victory. Or so it would appear.



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mgobluth

July 10th, 2016 at 7:35 PM ^

If you want to have the ASG mean something like home field advantage in the WS, then a few things need to happen to make it even more competitive:

-eliminate fan voting, let the managers select the starters (have the best, not most popular, players start)
-get rid of the rule that makes you have at least 1 player from every team (this is a stale rule from days when you couldn't watch much else of the league besides your local team. with cable tv and MLB.TV this rule is obsolete)

Personally, I don't think something as trivial as the ASG should decide something as important as home field in the WS. Keep it an event for the fans.

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MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 10th, 2016 at 7:49 PM ^

No.  The whole impetus for that was the ASG that ended in a tie.  Everyone got their panties in a bunch over that, as if it were some kind of heresy for a meaningless exhibition to end that way.  IMO, that made it a more memorable game than entire decades worth of them.  And that's really the whole point.

Even so, it's not a bad thing to try and impart some meaning, but putting the WS at stake is a bad idea.  A better one might be that all of the next season's interleague games, regardless of park, are played under the rules of the winning league.  Which is to say, DH or no DH.

All that said, if I could change one thing about the ASG it'd be fan voting.  Used to be you would get a ballot only at a ballgame.  Now any moron with a Twitter account can start a stupid campaign to do things like put their favorite scrub in, or fill the starting lineup entirely with their team.  I'd end fan voting entirely except for the "last vote" concept, which is kind of cool."

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Primo

July 10th, 2016 at 7:52 PM ^

Before they implemented this rule, home field just alternated between the leagues, the policy being that the leagues didn't play at all / enough to make a record comparison legitimate. So, in that sense I think the rule is fine. Now, should they change the rule, recognizing that interleague is much more pervasive. Maybe.



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East German Judge

July 10th, 2016 at 10:55 PM ^

In concept there is some merit to this train of thought.  However, do they all have the same SOS in their inter-league play?  I could be wrong, but I would guess not, and if that is the case, this may not be the best way either.  

Why not do what the other major sports do???

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SBo

July 10th, 2016 at 7:54 PM ^

No. Here's how I'd do it: if the two teams have played an interleaugue series, it goes to the winner of that series. If they haven't or the series was tied, the better record gets home field.

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Bigasshammm

July 10th, 2016 at 7:55 PM ^

They should make the winner of the all star game decide the format of the WS. So therefore if the NL wins then the pitchers have to bat in every game not just the ones in the NL park. And vice versa with AL winning they use a DH every game. Gives it a purpose without possibly deciding anything.

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jmblue

July 10th, 2016 at 8:00 PM ^

It doesn't make sense.  This is an exhibition game in which every team gets at least one representative, and the managers try to play as many as possible, yet it determines homefield advantage for the World Series?  

Just give homefield to the team with the best record.  Now that we have interleague play, it's logical.

 

 

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mgob-rad

July 10th, 2016 at 8:05 PM ^

As it's formatted now, absolutely not. But I think if they let managers/players pick the starters and let fans pick the reserve players an argument could be made to keep it to decide the WS home field. At least that way the teams have more control



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Go Blue in NC

July 10th, 2016 at 8:08 PM ^

Home field actually matters most in baseball since the home team bats last and knows how many runs up or down they are. I understand the impetus to make the game matter, especially given how terrible the Pro Bowl has been the past few years, but home field advantage is a huge gift based on an exhibition game. I would be in favor of the interleague record determining home field advantage, especially with the expansion of interleague games the past few years.

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Danwillhor

July 10th, 2016 at 8:11 PM ^

I totally understand the need to make the game mean something. I do. Yet, putting a team's potential title season behind the 8-ball due to a random collection of players, in a one-night recognition/fan game is moronic. Might as well flip a coin in April and give the winner home field.

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LSAClassOf2000

July 10th, 2016 at 8:12 PM ^

No. 

I never liked this idea personally - as others have said, it is an exhibition and should be therefore consequence-free when it comes to the course of the season, both regular and postseason.

Actually, I would understand it more if home field were determined by the starting pitchers for each league playing a "Best Of Five" tournament of Canasta. 

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slimj091

July 10th, 2016 at 8:27 PM ^

Maybe for the home run derby. Which is honestly the only baseball I watch in a given year Unless there is an interesting matchup in the playoffs or WS.

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