All-Star Game Selection Debate: Popularity vs. Skill?

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00:00Do you like how the All-Star game is selected?

00:02Because for me, I'll give my response to this.

00:04The game doesn't mean anything.

00:06So whoever plays that game, if Taylor Swift voted in as the starting pitcher,

00:10I wouldn't even have a problem with that, Tom.

00:11The game means nothing to me anymore.

00:13It doesn't.

00:13Yeah, so they took away that the winner of it gets home field advantage.

00:18I don't remember when that happened, but that's what it used to be the case, obviously.

00:22I remember the All-Star game in Milwaukee in 2003 that they had a tie or something like that.

00:28That it changed everything.

00:30I don't mind it from a fan spectacle type of thing.

00:35But if it is going to be a fan spectacle type of thing, I think there needs to be a balance of

00:40are they showing off the players or are they showing off what the fans want?

00:43And what I mean by that is how the players are voting.

00:46Because at a certain point, this is simply just a popularity contest.

00:49And players that are deserving statistically of being All-Stars or what we would qualify as All-Stars

00:54aren't making it to the All-Star game.

00:56So I would like to see at least half of the roster just be chosen by GMs or something.

01:02And then the other half be fan voted because the best players should be there.

01:06But the fans should also want to watch the game because they see their favorite players there.

01:10And those two things aren't always the same.

01:13Yeah, let me double down on this too, Tom.

01:14Because the one thing, like, every team has to be represented in the All-Star game, right?

01:18Which I always think was interesting.

01:19But again, back in the day, it made sense.

01:21Like, you wanted to pull every market in there and just take the star from every team

01:24and a couple extra from the really good teams.

01:26I get that.

01:27Do you feel the need that there should be every team represented?

01:30Like, we don't do that in other sports.

01:31Like, every team has to have a pro bowler, per se, or every team has to be in the NHL represented.

01:37But baseball still feels the need that, even on a really bad baseball team.

01:41Like, hey, the White Sox are getting somebody in there.

01:43Why are we doing that?

01:44I mean, I think it's because they want fans to tune in, right?

01:48Because if you're just eliminating that fan base from wanting to tune in, like, yeah,

01:52it's great to see Bobby Witt and Aaron Judge go back-to-back in a lineup, which is, you know,

01:57what we'd see in the World Baseball Classic.

01:59But if fans of a certain franchise don't have a reason to tune in because their favorite player

02:03from their team isn't there, then we're just eliminating these teams.

02:07Like, I think there should be at least one, but it doesn't necessarily mean they have to be a starter.