Baseball Needs Its Stars to Come Out

(The following is being syndicated from The Captain’s Blog).

Since baseball unveiled its 68 All Stars last Sunday, the combined roster for both squads has swelled to 84 players. In addition to the 14 original selections who either backed out or were disqualified from the competition, two replacements were also forced to withdraw. As a result, more attention has been paid to who isn’t attending this year’s All Star Game than those actually making the trip to Arizona. Maybe, next year, major league baseball should simply replace the voting process with a game of musical chairs?

The Replacements: 2011 All Star Roster Evolution

*Elected as starters.
Source: MLB.com

In all fairness to the players who declined to participate, six were disqualified by rule, five are currently on the disabled list, and two others have missed at least the previous six games leading up to the break. Only Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and David Price declined the invitation despite being able to play during the final weekend of the first half. So, in reality, baseball isn’t experiencing an epidemic flight from All Star participation, but rather a confluence of events that has led to unprecedented turnover. Nonetheless, baseball could, and should, do more to encourage participation.

Currently, once a starter throws a pitch on the Sunday before the All Star break, he becomes automatically disqualified from the competition. As a result of this absurd rule, the same roster spot passed from James Shields to CC Sabathia to Alexi Ogando during the first inning of yesterday’s game between the Yankees and Rays. Other pitchers disqualified because of this mandate were Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels, and Matt Cain, all of whom rank among the very best pitchers in the game.

As previously mentioned, Jeter, Price and Rivera are the only three All Stars who decided to skip the game despite being healthy enough to play during the final weekend of the first half. With all due respect to those players’ bumps and bruises, these are the cases that baseball should most seriously address. In order to deter players from opting for an extended vacation, an “injury grace period” could be instituted. If a player’s injury forces him to miss at least two games immeditaley before the break (as was the case for Placido Polanco and Ryan Braun), he would be exempt from participation. However, if a player didn’t miss any time before the break, but still decided to skip the All Star Game, he would be subject to a two-game suspension.

Finally, if any player not on the disabled list decided to turn down an invitation, he would not be designated as an All Star. Individual ball clubs would still be free to negotiate bonuses and other financial matters based solely on All Star selections, but for the purposes of record keeping, only those who actually made the trip to the game would get credit for being selected to the team.

Although any proposed rule change would have to be negotiated as part of the upcoming CBA, the MLBPA should be a willing partner in any attempt to fortify the All Star Game. After all, a significant portion of the revenue derived from the event is used to fund the player’s pension. Quite literally, no one has more to gain from a robust All Star Game than the players, so Bud Selig shouldn’t have to twist too many arms.

Does the All Star Game even matter anymore? Are changes worth the effort? Although many cynics would likely answer no to both, it would be short sighted to abandon what has long been a marquee event on the baseball calendar. Cities still clamor to host the event, voting participation is at an all-time high, and television ratings, despite having declined over the years, still deliver a sizeable audience for a prime-time summer night. For all those reasons, baseball should work to restore some of its lost All Star glitter, not allow what remains to fade away.

Above all else, MLB players need to realize that while being selected to the All Star Game is an honor, it also carries with it an obligation. In other words, if they stop showing an interest in attending the game, the fans soon will too.

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