Does anyone else hate the MLB All-Star game's many elements?

[blur2005]

I have two major complaints with the MLB All-Star game:

First, the newer thing of having the game actually count for something. If the NL champ wins 106 games this year or something like that, and the AL champ is the wild card team that won only 93, who should host the majority of the World Series games? The NL team, of course. But if the AL wins the All-Star game, the lesser of the two teams gets to host. It's foolish; I know Fox wants added emphasis on the game to get more viewers, but it seems illogical to me in terms of legitimacy.

My second complaint is the foolish system of having every team represented. I know that it's supposedly fair allowing each team to have at least one representative, but c'mon. There are certain teams that don't have a player who is good enough at his position to warrant selection, and because he gets on the team, it robs someone else who is playing a lot better of his chance to be an All-Star. My favorite example of this is the 1999 All-Star game, when my favorite player, Chipper Jones, was robbed of his spot on the roster because of an injury to Jason Kendall, forcing Ed Sprague to be promoted on to the All-Star team, robbing Chipper of a roster spot. Guess who ended up winning the National League MVP award in 1999? It certainly wasn't Ed Sprague, who hit .267, hit 22 homers, and had 81 RBIs. No, it was Chipper Jones, who had a career year, carrying the Braves to the World Series, hitting .319, with 45 homers, and 110 RBIs. Yeah, Ed Sprague...he's done nothing really in his career. That's just my favorite example, but there are others of players getting gypped by this rule.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that out there.

[ISUMatt]

I have no problem with either... Many a yr there was only 1 White Sox player and the only reason to watch was to see how that player fared!!! Now the NBA, with no Bulls, I NEVER watch the game!!!

[Gil Dobie]

In the past the American and National League rotated Home Field advantage the World Series. It was never based on best record, except in the playoffs.

The AL player I would have liked to see was Travis Hafner.
.314, 17 HRs, 57 RBI's

[grizbeer]

I don't have a problem with either rule, either, especially the every team is represented rule. The fans don't select all the players, the managers also get to pick some players, so if Chipper wasn't selected it wasn't because some team got their one player on the team, it was because the manager didn't like him.

Now the manager picks is something to bitch about, like the time Torre picked 7 Yankees in 2001 in Seattle.

[Ivytalk]

I have no problem with either... Many a yr there was only 1 White Sox player and the only reason to watch was to see how that player fared!!! Now the NBA, with no Bulls, I NEVER watch the game!!!

ISUMatt has a good point. The rule of including at least one player per team on the All Star roster has been around for a long time, and many fans watch the game only to see how the "home town boy" will do.

[eaglefan452]

I think it either has to be seen as an exhibition or as a game that means something, not both, as they are trying to do now. If they want the game to mean something, or in other words, trying to get the players voted or chosen to actually play, then don't handicap the managers with having to have one player from every team.

Also, the whole home-field advantage for the winning team, how many teams actually care about that? Why would player(s) from the Royals or Rockies care about who gets the 7th game of the World Series at home anyway? Also I think they have been doing this homefield advantage for 2 years and it hasn't meant anything in the last 2 World Series.

[blur2005]

I don't have a problem with either rule, either, especially the every team is represented rule. The fans don't select all the players, the managers also get to pick some players, so if Chipper wasn't selected it wasn't because some team got their one player on the team, it was because the manager didn't like him.

Now the manager picks is something to bitch about, like the time Torre picked 7 Yankees in 2001 in Seattle.
Well, that year, Chipper was going to be on the All-Star team, as in he had been announced for it, but then Kendall got hurt, some other team's catcher was placed there, and then Sprague replaced Chipper on the roster.