The Allstar Game used to be a wonderful summer tradition. It's mystique -- Mantle v. Mays, Aaron v. Killebrew -- was transfixing. You know what damaged it beyond repair: interleague play. Even more than free agency -- I mean, Pete Rose never played in the American League and Reggie Jackson was never in the NL -- requiring teams to play each other in the regular season diluted that mystique into, well, what we now have. The expansion of interleague play with the new scheduling is so horrific that division races no longer are decided by head-to-head play among divisional opponents. I'm old and way too traditional, and I love baseball as much as any child of the Mantle-Mays era. But I reduce my viewing of interleague games with my beloved Atlanta Braves to glimpses at the score and taped highlights. I am not part of the audience, because I don't like the script. And I think the diminishing of the Allstar Game lies at the feet of that issue.
I agree. What they should do is realign completely, so the Yanks-Mets, Dodgers-Angels, Cardinals-Royals, etc. could be divisional games and be played more often. A geographic realignment would make sure that more games are played in the same time zone, which would help TV ratings and attract advertisers, build rivalries and make travel easier for playoffs. Not every team has to play every other team every year. They don't do that in the NFL and they seem to be doing fine.
The Allstar Game used to be a wonderful summer tradition. It's mystique -- Mantle v. Mays, Aaron v. Killebrew -- was transfixing. You know what damaged it beyond repair: interleague play. Even more than free agency -- I mean, Pete Rose never played in the American League and Reggie Jackson was never in the NL -- requiring teams to play each other in the regular season diluted that mystique into, well, what we now have. The expansion of interleague play with the new scheduling is so horrific that division races no longer are decided by head-to-head play among divisional opponents. I'm old and way too traditional, and I love baseball as much as any child of the Mantle-Mays era. But I reduce my viewing of interleague games with my beloved Atlanta Braves to glimpses at the score and taped highlights. I am not part of the audience, because I don't like the script. And I think the diminishing of the Allstar Game lies at the feet of that issue.
I agree. What they should do is realign completely, so the Yanks-Mets, Dodgers-Angels, Cardinals-Royals, etc. could be divisional games and be played more often. A geographic realignment would make sure that more games are played in the same time zone, which would help TV ratings and attract advertisers, build rivalries and make travel easier for playoffs. Not every team has to play every other team every year. They don't do that in the NFL and they seem to be doing fine.