By Josh:
All day I have been thinking about what I want to say about the all-star game and the same thing keeps coming to mind; baseball has the best all-star game in all of sports.
Now I know I am a bit biased because of my love for baseball but I really believe the baseball all-star game is the best for a very controversial reason. The game means something so players are actually trying to win.
Now in terms of the World Series I don’t like the fact that the all-star game decides home field advantage, but looking at the all-star game it is great. We have all seen the NBA and NFL equivalent and there is no doubt that effort is more than lacking. NFL players are pretty much playing two hand touch, and in the NBA it is just a carry over from the dunk contest.
Okay, so enough complaining about lesser sports, let’s actually take a look at the game.
The Good
The game seemed to go well in my opinion. Target field looked like it was a great stadium to have the all star game. I wasn’t there to see what all they had but I have no doubt they had some cool things around the stadium
The game was fun, there were some good plays, and we got to see the best players in the game. I am sure there is a player out there who felt like he should have made the team but I felt the teams were a great representation of the best players of the year.
The Bad
Where to start with this. I could talk about the fact that Fox uses the same music for their NFL coverage, or maybe the fact that I had to listen to Joe Buck who I can’t stand ever.
Now here is the real bad, and I can’t emphasize just how bad this was, I didn’t see anything honoring some of the greats who have past away this year. I know it was Jeter’s last game but come on, not even a special tribute to one of the greatest hitters of all time, Tony Gwynn. What about Don Zimmer who is regarded as one of the most respected men of baseball in history.
What We Will Remember
For the short term we will remember this as Derek Jeter’s last all-star game and rightfully so. However, in ten years I really think we are going to look back at this all-star game and see it as the night that Mike Trout stood out as the best of the best. Jeter is a once in a generation player and Mike Trout is the same.