I probably write a post similar to this every year around this time, but the old curmudgeon in me won’t let me not write it. So, if you think that an exhibition game should decide the fate of the World Series, then you should probably not read any further. If, like me, you think an exhibition game deciding anything important is not only asinine, but hurtful to the sport, then please, read on!
I have several reasons for feeling this way, some valid and some not, I’m sure. Here they are in no particular order.
1. A exhibition game should never decide anything of consequence. The majority of players in the All-Star game are not going to be in the World Series. Why should they decide who should have home field advantage? The way it has always been done before was fine. The team with the best record should host.
2. 2011. Enough said for any Ranger fan. Everyone remembers what happened in 2011. The Texas Rangers had to go to St. Louis for games 6 and 7. If they had been in Arlington, things may have ended differently. Yes, I am still bitter about that. The All-Star game that year was decided by Prince Fielder, who was a Brewer at the time. He was not going to the World Series. It sucked.
3. They players don’t care. They say it is an honor to be there, but they are not going to play with reckless abandoned in a game that should mean nothing. It should be fun, and it should be competitive. It should not be meaningful.
Those are my main reasons that the All-Star Game should not effect the outcome of the World Series. But as a Texas Rangers fan, mostly 2011. Really. I will never get over that.
