2024 MLB All-Star Game Thread

[zambonir]

He's trying to get everyone in, good for him.

[EastFallowfield]

Our pitchers outings were so short they barely had time to hype them up.

[zambonir]

Well everyone but Kyle Finnegan anyway.

[Aquapong]

Hopefully no one got hurt and we can get on with real games. I’ve never been one for these exhibition events. Just name and All Star team and carry on with the season.

[EastFallowfield]

Kinda feel like it's nice to give the players who aren't All Stars a few days off since they don't have many between February and October/November sometimes

[zambonir]

Clearly the players enjoy the experience. MLB is damned if they do and damned if they don't, the game was better when it was for home field but that was also a ridiculous thing. And the Pro Bowl has always been the least of these games because it isn't mid-season, and even more so now. Bryce want to play in the Olympics, hard to see that working either. WBC was bad enough in March. But that would be a much more compelling format than AL vs. NL now (Americans vs. the World?). Interleague has diminished the ASG as well because now it's not really novel to see the star players from the other league.

[BostonRoss]

There's no way for the All-Star Game to ever regain its previous luster or importance. The manager and players seemed to care about winning more; now it's a pure exhibition (and marketing opportunity for MLB). There used to be memorable moments, like the 1999 celebration of Ted Williams, and A-Rod switching positions with Cal Ripken (better get used to third base, kid).

As noted by others, we can see any game we want now, or any player. When I was a kid, the only time I would see American League players was during the World Series, or a Saturday game of the week. So I really looked forward to the All-Star Game. The first one I was old enough to see live on TV was 1968. It was the only time I saw Mickey Mantle bat live on TV (he struck out, but nobody was hitting in that game). Nowadays, Mantle wouldn't even be chosen for the game since he had a bad first half. Watching Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Drysdale, etc. in the same game was amazing to me.

I still enjoy it, but not nearly as much. I doubt kids today enjoy it like I did in the day.

[zambonir]

I doubt kids today enjoy any Major League Baseball game like I did in the day.

Doing an old-school "fixed" here.

All kidding aside baseball has made some progress getting a little younger, I wonder how the game goes over on social media etc. The Home Run Derby is probably more appealing as something you can consume in bites but even that lacks star power.

[Squire]

Just a random comment that I hate this week. I don't care about the ASG, I don't care about home run derbies or the Futures Games. I want actual Phillies games or at least actual Phillies minor league games. This week is torture.

[zambonir]

I hate not having games to watch too but I think both the tradition of the break and letting the players have one is bigger than our entertainment, especially in the expanded playoff era.

Gonna be interesting to see if they really try to do the Olympics in 2028 because that will likely mean either playing a shorter season (fewer games), a longer season (earlier or later) or serious roster havoc. It would certainly cancel the All-Star game and break for one year though.

[BaseballCat]

I wish they would go back to having league all star games. I miss them and trying to see if there were ones I could attend. Often happened around the MLB break so could fill in some time, but I doubt MLB will allow that to happen…

[zambonir]

Yeah I'd almost forgotten they existed. I went to the AA game in Round Rock, TX in 2001 when that park and team were still pretty new.

[bkeich]

There's no way for the All-Star Game to ever regain its previous luster or importance. The manager and players seemed to care about winning more; now it's a pure exhibition (and marketing opportunity for MLB). There used to be memorable moments, like the 1999 celebration of Ted Williams, and A-Rod switching positions with Cal Ripken (better get used to third base, kid).

As noted by others, we can see any game we want now, or any player. When I was a kid, the only time I would see American League players was during the World Series, or a Saturday game of the week. So I really looked forward to the All-Star Game. The first one I was old enough to see live on TV was 1968. It was the only time I saw Mickey Mantle bat live on TV (he struck out, but nobody was hitting in that game). Nowadays, Mantle wouldn't even be chosen for the game since he had a bad first half. Watching Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Drysdale, etc. in the same game was amazing to me.

I still enjoy it, but not nearly as much. I doubt kids today enjoy it like I did in the day.

Make winner take all for all the money it generates, let’s say that is $100M. Then you will see guys trying MUCH MUCH harder.

Never happen, the Owners would never agree to share that money.

[zambonir]

I don't really feel like the players not trying is an issue in baseball. They all want to get hits and get people out. They all want to win. And they already get the same share of revenue the event generates as they do anything else (however unsatisfactorily). Every player on the winning team also gets $25,000, which is obviously peanuts (Bryce, Strahm and Trea all had $50K contact incentives just for making the team too).

Trea and Bryce also got $10,000 to put on those microphones.

When the game did count for home field we had the opposite problem, players not getting used properly (whether that be overuse or no use) and managers treating it like a bigger game than it really should be.

Unlike in hockey and hoops there's no way to just actively not play defense in baseball, unless the pitcher's serving up BP. Nobody's going to run into a wall I guess.

[schillingfan]

Being a Texas hated since childhood, all the Texas themes were nauseating. That said the game was fun, with so many Phillies to watch, as opposed to the days of one mandatory representative.

[zambonir]

Being a Texas lover and semi-Texan they were nauseating! All cliche. But was funny to see what Bryce did with it.

[zambonir]

MLB All-Star Game viewers up 6% to 7.44 million after falling to record low last...

That's still higher than the average NLCS or ALCS viewership last year, which was 5.2 million. NLCS Game 7 had 9.1 million. Home run derby this year was around 5 million.

And all while competing with, or so I've heard, some other major TV event that's on multiple networks every night this week.

[bkeich]

Have I mentioned this year how much I hate the 3 days off for the All Star break? Now it is 4 days off, that didn’t make me hate it less. At least they put the draft around it, gives us some news.

Only thing that is worse is those couple weeks in October after baseball when the only sports are weekly football. (Before Hockey and Basketball start)

Maybe I need to work on my obsession with following sports…. Nah, I am too old, if I haven’t fixed it yet it must be a core part of my life​

[zambonir]

Start following MLS and the WNBA (time was there were no major sports for two of those three days).

It's weird they have the extra off day though. Isn't the season long enough?

[BostonRoss]

I wonder if the extra day off is in case of a rainout. I remember one year when I was a kid they had to play the next day due to rain. But it was a day game, and I suspect the TV contract now requires it to be at night.