Make the All-Star Game Matter Again
Tonight is the 2025 MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta. Following last night’s awesome and controversial Home Run Derby, baseball’s best and brightest take center stage for the “Midsummer Classic.” The game is the official launchpad for the rest of the season. From this point on, the trade deadline, divisional races, and wild card scurries will dominate the latter half of baseball’s regular season.
The All-Star Game used to signify more than just a timestamp, though. In my opinion, MLB should reinstate the clause that the league that wins the game should have home-field advantage in the World Series.
Bring Back the High Stakes All-Star Game
Something that separated the MLB All-Star Game from the rest of the major professional sports’ all-star games was that it had stakes. The winner would ensure that the team that emerged from their league would have home-field advantage in the World Series.
The NHL is starting to figure out how to make its All-Star festivities matter and attract fans, but the NBA and, more egregiously, the NFL have seemingly given up on trying to have a quality product showcase their top athletes. MLB had a functional way to do that, and after years of giving that up, I believe it is time to reinstate it.
This will be the first year the All-Star Game has been played since the passing of Pete Rose. Scandals and personal opinions aside, one of the lasting images of the All-Star Game is Rose bowling over Ray Fosse in the 1970 edition. While I doubt that Rose will ever get into the Hall of Fame, his indelible mark on the game he loved could be to make the All-Star Game have some stakes again. Baseball is uniquely positioned to have a game that matters.
What Can Be Done?
While there is now a clock on the game, you still need 27 outs. If baseball can make those count in a dead time of the sports calendar, it could be a huge boost for the sport. In the NBA, they fake jog up and down the court, heave threes, and clear the way for players to dunk. In the NFL, they have given up on an actual football game. Baseball could create a stronghold with its All-Star Game and find a way to increase the exposure of its most marketable and talented players.
The novelty of seeing the best of the AL and the best of the NL has worn off with interleague play, but I don’t really think that matters. While these players see more of each other now, more teams make the playoff field. There’s no guarantee of which team will make the World Series out of either league.
Having it known beforehand that the NL or AL pennant winner will host Game 1 of the World Series is not as big of a liability to me as having an All-Star Game tonight with less buzz around it. Enjoy the game tonight, I just hope these mean more in future years.
