All-Star Game/Home Run Derby Review

Not MLB's Best Showing

Editors Note: Let me preface this by saying that I think the MLB All-Star Game is the only All-Star event worth watching. It is leagues ahead of any other sport. That doesn’t mean they can’t fix a few things.

Overall Takeaway

I might be biased because I delayed my engagement by a day to watch the derby and All-Star game. I would do it again because I am married to the game of The Skippers View, but MLB needs to listen to their fans and make some changes. Here are some of my proposals.

• Please bring back the players wearing their team’s uniforms.

  • I wanted to vomit looking at those jerseys last night.

• Let star hitters play more.

  • I don’t care about pitchers. I get that it isn’t worth the risk.

• Eliminate the requirement that a player from each team should be there.

  • If your team sucks, and the ownership won’t do anything about it, then there shouldn’t be players there. It is very much an “everyone gets a trophy” rule, and I hate it.

• Bring back the World Series home-field advantage again.

  • STAKES. Can you imagine how hyped everyone would have been after that Duran home run? It was sick as is, but if that got the Red Sox home-field advantage, it would have been even more incredible. (Yes, I think the Red Sox can make the World Series.)

• Put the Top 8 HR leaders in the derby.

  • If they want to drop out after the fact, that is fine, but I think it will get more sluggers in. Like the All-Star game, they HAVE the option not to do it.

  • Raise the prize also. They have the cash to do it.

• Fix the selection process.

  • I will stand with Kevin on this one. Francisco Lindor not being in the All-Star Game was a crime and it is all Pete Alonso’s fault.

Home Run Derby- Teoscar Hernandez

All-Star Game- American League 5-3

What I Loved

• Jarren Duran

  • As a Red Sox fan, I am just glad he could show the league how special he has been this year. FYI, he is not really a power guy, so don’t expect clutch home runs from him often.

  

  Credit: MLB

• Mason Miller

  • Look, he is awesome. Throwing 103.6 is ridiculous, and putting down Marte, Ohtani, and Turner in order deserves applause. My only gripe is that if you lived on X and didn’t watch the game, you would think Miller had a Carl Hubbell performance.

  • For those millennials (and Brett) who don’t know the story of Carl Hubbell, I will give you a short retelling. It is the 1934 All-Star Game. Hubbell Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin. All FIVE were Hall of Famers. Hubbell struck them all out in order. Sadly, we will probably never see such a feat, as pitchers today can not go more than an inning.

  

  Credit: National Baseball Hall of Fame

• Shohei Ohtani

  • The MLB is finally doing a decent job promoting their stars. That started with Ohtani and has continued. Just look at the numbers they get on social media when they post about him, it is fantastic.

  • However, they should find a way to shut this dingus below up.

What I Was "Mid" About

• Paul Skenes vs Aaron Judge

  • It was anti-climactic. MLB knew it, too, so they immediately cut to Livvy Dunne, hoping people would forget how boring it was. Nice try, MLB, but I want men battling it out, not some blonde.

• The All-Star Game As A Whole

  • I wasn’t blown away, nor was I falling asleep—the definition of MID.

What I Didn't Love

• Pete Alonso

  • He says he wants to come back and do another Home Run Derby. But will he do it if that means murdering another teammate? I used to like Alonso, but now I view him as a selfish narcissist. Clearly, he only made the roster because MLB was desperate for people to do the Derby. Alonso is a spotlight hogger and loved the chance to stand there next to the drunk anthem singer and have the lights shine on him. A real teammate would have said, “No, I suck this year, take Lindor or Nimmo to represent the Mets.”

  • BTW he went 0-1 with a K in the game.

• The uniforms

  • I will show you the last design I liked below. Time to bring back the regular team uniforms.

  

  Credit: MLB Shop

• ESPN

  • Bring everything onto the MLB Network and simulcast it onto NBC. No, seriously, ESPN is garbage. NBC has a minority stake in the MLB Network. They can throw it on channel four so the world can watch.

• The Home Run Derby As A Whole

  • Legit snooze fest. Went on way too long, too many commercials, too much bad commentary, and not enough home runs. I can see MLB quickly pivoting back to last year’s format.

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