This is less a comment about Tuesday’s game and more a complaint about how All-Star games are distributed to the 30 MLB franchises. I understand that MLB wants to promote baseball across the country and especially wants to show off all of the new ballparks that have gone up over the last decade. Nevertheless, I find it hard to see the logic in giving certain cities multiple All-Star games at the expense of other cities that have never hosted (Phoenix, Miami, and Tampa) or haven’t hosted in a very long time (New York). The last time baseball’s mid-season festivities came to the Big Apple was in 1964 (Shea Stadium) and 1977 (Yankee Stadium). In the 42 years since the Mets have hosted, the following teams have hosted (number of times):
Anaheim (2)
Atlanta (2)
Cincinnati (2)
Detroit (2)
Chicago (AL) (2)
Cleveland (2)
Houston (3)
Milwaukee (2)
Minneapolis (2)
Philadelphia (2)
Pittsburgh (3)
San Diego (2)
Seattle (2)
Can anyone tell me why Pittsburgh and Houston have hosted the All-Star Game three times in the decades since New York last had the same opportunity? Why haven’t Phoenix, Miami, and Tampa Bay been showcased? The argument that MLB wanted to show off PNC Park or Minute Maid Park is valid, only if Three Rivers and the Astrodome hadn’t been showcased twice (once when they were new parks and once when they were decrepit and hideous pieces of garbage that precipitated their replacement).
I’m not a Mets fan by any stretch of the imagination but I certainly don’t understand why baseball spits in the eye of its most important market. Two new ballparks are being built in New York. There’s talk that the Yankees will get the 2008 All-Star Game, in advance of Yankee Stadium’s demolition. Will the Mets get 2009 for the same reason? And will it take another 30 or 40 years before baseball comes back to showcase the “new” Yankee and Met ballparks?
And for those that might think I’m being too New York-centric, I would support the Cardinals, Royals, and Dodgers getting the All-Star Game in the very near future. The last time baseball came through for those three markets was in 1966, 1973, and 1980, respectively.
Finally, I’d like to propose a solution to the inequality of All-Star Game distribution. Baseball needs to come up with a predictable system of rotation where the game alternates between leagues and where no city can host more than once every 30 years (therefore, each franchise is guaranteed at least one game per cycle). It could come to New York, Chicago, the Bay Area or Southern California two years in a row, but it’ll never go to Pittsburgh or Houston three times in 36 years. Every team gets a fair shake and baseball gets to promote all 30 of its franchises without playing favorites.
Of course, this, or other reasonable solutions are not how baseball operates. For as long as Bud Selig sits on the throne, it’ll be a system of favors for his most loyal clients and benefactors. Count on seeing the White Sox and Red Sox with another All-Star Game apiece before the Mets get a taste of the fun...
Anaheim (2)
Atlanta (2)
Cincinnati (2)
Detroit (2)
Chicago (AL) (2)
Cleveland (2)
Houston (3)
Milwaukee (2)
Minneapolis (2)
Philadelphia (2)
Pittsburgh (3)
San Diego (2)
Seattle (2)
Can anyone tell me why Pittsburgh and Houston have hosted the All-Star Game three times in the decades since New York last had the same opportunity? Why haven’t Phoenix, Miami, and Tampa Bay been showcased? The argument that MLB wanted to show off PNC Park or Minute Maid Park is valid, only if Three Rivers and the Astrodome hadn’t been showcased twice (once when they were new parks and once when they were decrepit and hideous pieces of garbage that precipitated their replacement).
I’m not a Mets fan by any stretch of the imagination but I certainly don’t understand why baseball spits in the eye of its most important market. Two new ballparks are being built in New York. There’s talk that the Yankees will get the 2008 All-Star Game, in advance of Yankee Stadium’s demolition. Will the Mets get 2009 for the same reason? And will it take another 30 or 40 years before baseball comes back to showcase the “new” Yankee and Met ballparks?
And for those that might think I’m being too New York-centric, I would support the Cardinals, Royals, and Dodgers getting the All-Star Game in the very near future. The last time baseball came through for those three markets was in 1966, 1973, and 1980, respectively.
Finally, I’d like to propose a solution to the inequality of All-Star Game distribution. Baseball needs to come up with a predictable system of rotation where the game alternates between leagues and where no city can host more than once every 30 years (therefore, each franchise is guaranteed at least one game per cycle). It could come to New York, Chicago, the Bay Area or Southern California two years in a row, but it’ll never go to Pittsburgh or Houston three times in 36 years. Every team gets a fair shake and baseball gets to promote all 30 of its franchises without playing favorites.
Of course, this, or other reasonable solutions are not how baseball operates. For as long as Bud Selig sits on the throne, it’ll be a system of favors for his most loyal clients and benefactors. Count on seeing the White Sox and Red Sox with another All-Star Game apiece before the Mets get a taste of the fun...
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