Too Much Riding on the MLB All-Star Game

I don’t like All-Star Games. Despite baseball being the closest to an actual game, I can’t get around the pitching. Tons of relievers get to be named All-Stars because no team wants to stress out its starter in an exhibition game (and rightfully so). Which is why the All-Star Game should not decide what team gets home field advantage in the World Series. 

I get it, there was pressure to fix game after a horrendous tie in 2002 (surprisingly the two teams also tied in 1961). Ties are un-American, and baseball is America. Something needed to be done. That something was give both teams enough pitchers to remove any possibility of running out, not make the All-Star Game worth more than it needs to be.

Besides, there are far more creative ways to determine home field advantage in the World Series. 

The obvious one is the team with the better record gets home field. But with so little interleague play there often isn’t a head-to-head between the two World Series teams. So maybe give home field to the team with the better overall interleague record unless there is a head-to-head between the World Series teams.

My favorite idea is don’t just take one team’s interleague record, but the total record of both leagues and make that decide which gets to host. MLB could brand interleague play as “The Interleague Challenge” and use every interleague game, now that they occur every series, to gel up interleague rivalries.

Brand it as a “challenge” and give fans constant standings updates and I’ll bet a flow of AL vs. NL banter will follow on social media. Most of life is all about presentation. It’s not cool to win a semifinal game, but a “Conference Championship?” Sign me up! Clinching a playoff spot is boring, but winning a “Division Title” is suddenly banner worthy.

What if the leagues tie in the challenge? MLB could simply schedule an odd number of interleague games, go to a secondary tiebreaker — like total interleague runs scored or the combined interleague record of playoff teams — or if all else fails make the All-Star Game the tiebreaker.

Not out there enough for you? How about this: neither team has home field advantage. Play one of the games at a predetermined neutral site — ideally Game 1.

One of the biggest issues with the MLB, NBA and NHL is that their finals are a best-of-seven series instead of a winner take all. The better team always wins, but there is something extra special about knowing far in advance the place, date and time of the ultimate game. The Super Bowl, college football’s National Championship Game and the Final Four are not just games, they’re events. Fans flock from everywhere for that one big game (or three in the case of the Final Four).

Baseball can solve this problem by presetting Game 1 of the World Series at a neutral site, then give three games to the AL team, three to the NL team, and rotate who gets to host Game 7 (or give it to the team with the better record, or better yet integrate the Interleague Challenge too).

How cool would it be to have the location for the World Series opener predetermined each year? Fans would flock to celebrate not just a championship, but baseball. Maybe even play it in Omaha, Neb., the site of the College World Series that's been referred to as "the mecca of baseball."

The problem is that under the current format both teams are guaranteed two home games each, where under my neutral site format one team could be denied a very big gate if there is a sweep. This could be mitigated by giving a bigger portion of the neutral site game’s gate receipts to the team not guaranteed two home games in the event of a sweep, otherwise Game 1 is split evenly.

Those are just two ideas. While the neutral site game is admittedly a bit outside the box, it would be pretty cool to celebrate the start of the World Series in a unique way that all baseball fans could enjoy, not just the two teams in the series. The first game would become an event maybe not on the level of the Super Bowl, but it certainly would be special.

If not that, at least make meaningful games decide home field in the World Series. Let the All-Star Game remain an exhibition and a spectacle. Nothing more.