Shohei Ohtani needs to play the entire All-Star Game
The best way to improve MLB’s All-Star Game is to play the superstars more and have the marginal “stars” become spectators
Today’s Newsletter is a combined post.
* Part one is my takeaways from Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
* Part two is my weekly preview of this week's "Crafting the Call."
We are a divided nation. Finding common ground is fleeting.
But if there is one thing that 99.9% of the public can agree, it’s this: Major League Baseball should return to having players wear their team uniforms for the All-Star Game, instead of the hideous generic uniforms they’ve worn the last four years.
It’s the simplest way to make generations of fans – young and old -- stop screaming at the clouds.
Thankfully, I think our long national crisis will end next year, if this quote from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is any indication:
“I’m aware of the sentiment on this issue. I think where my head is on it, it’s something we’re going to have a conversation about coming out of the All-Star Game. We’ve got a lot of uniform things going on. Obviously the conversations have to involve the players, first and foremost, and Nike and some of our partners, but I am aware of the sentiment and I do know why people kind of like that tradition. There will be conversations about that.”
Other than uniforms, like that classic photo from the 1970s, not much can be done to make MLB’s All-Star Game drastically more interesting. But the sport can try, and fans can keep demanding that baseball try harder.
Let’s start with this: give the biggest superstar of your sport a bigger platform.
Shohei Ohtani absolutely, positively, needs to play the entire All-Star Game
Shohei Ohtani doesn’t even play the field. He’s a designated hitter. He’s the most fascinating player that baseball has seen this century, maybe ever. He’s a global phenomenon and he’s only going to bat three times? He walked, homered and struck out — the ultimate “three true outcomes” game — then he was removed from the game for Marcell Ozuna.
Why, why, why? Let him swing like that all game. Ohtani is not going to get tired. He had the previous day off. (He should have been in the Home Run Derby, along with Aaron Judge.) He gets the next two days off as well.
Not everyone needs to play in the game. It’s become the “participation trophy” at the highest level of baseball. This all dates back to 1993, when the game was played in Baltimore, and Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston did not pitch Orioles star Mike Mussina. Gaston got roasted for not pitching the hometown star.
Now, every manager wants to get everyone into the game. Why? That doesn’t sell the sport. It’s just not necessary. Sure, make sure the hometown fans get to see their all-star(s). If a few players, or even a half-dozen players don’t get into the game, so what? They’ll get over it.
Willie Mays famously played in 24 All-Star Games. You know how many plate appearances he collected? Eighty-two! The Say Hey Kid had four at-bats in *both* of the All-Star Games played from 1959-61. Mays, Henry Aaron, Orlando Cepeda and Ernie Banks all played the entire 1959 Midsummer Classic.
Somewhat recently, Rickey Henderson played the entire 1982 All-Star Game. Bobby Bonilla and Roberto Alomar played the entire 1991 game.
The starting pitchers used to throw two innings; sometimes three innings. In 1986, starters Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens both pitched three innings. Fernando Valenuzela followed Gooden and also pitched three innings. The NL used just five pitchers the entire game. (The NL used 6 pitchers in the final three innings yesterday and 12 total.)
Managers need to make lineup decisions based on what’s most dramatic and entertaining for the sport; not getting everyone into the game.
American League manager Bruce Bochy, who I highly respect and hope enters the Hall of Fame one day, epitomized this problem.
Bochy batted Aaron Judge fourth. We needed a walk to see Judge face Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skeenes, which was the marquee matchup of the night. That shouldn’t happen. Judge needed to be in the top-3 spots in the lineup to guarantee that matchup. Heck, I’d have batted Judge leadoff so the game begins with the best matchup of the night, then Juan Soto hit second for the second-best matchup of the night.
Bochy replaced seven of his nine starters in the fifth inning. The fifth inning! It wasn’t even halfway through the game. All nine AL starters got exactly two plate appearances. The only reserve entering in the fifth that was a household name was Corey Seager. David Fry got more plate appearances last night than playoff legend Yordan Alvarez did. How does this make any sense?
Both managers should pick a couple players on each team who will play all nine innings or at least make sure they get four at-bats. Here’s my list from 2024: Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper on the National League, Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez on the American League.
If necessary, change the rules so you can move a position player to become the DH (without having a pitcher bat) if it helps them stay in the game and allows a few others to play.
The last two All-Star Game most valuable players – Rockies catcher Elias Diaz in 2023 and Red Sox infielder Jarren Duran this year – are mostly obscure. They just happen to hit a home run that gave their team the lead. No other candidates were worthy of MVP honors because not enough players are given significant time to become valuable.
National League manager Torey Luvollo stated his goal was to play everyone. In order to almost accomplish this, he made mid-inning pitching changes in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Nothing ruins the flow of a baseball game more than a mid-inning pitching change. There were nearly more commercial breaks than baseball activity during those innings.
It was boring television and it’s not like he was putting in a succession of future Hall of Famers to take one last victory curtain call. They were all obscure pitchers, wearing the exact same uniform.
My friend Matt tuned in for those final three innings, never heard of any of the pitchers, had no clue which teams they even represented, and saw mostly commercials. This is not inspiring him to watch next year’s game.
Really, it’s only going to get better if the biggest stars are fully invested in marketing the game and the managers start managing much differently. This will take the cooperation of the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Union to make it happen.
The superstars need to be not-so-gentle nudged to embrace the spotlight and become more selfish. The borderline all-stars need to be gently nudged to step aside for the superstars.
Across all sports, All-Star Games have lost their charm. Football gave up on the Pro Bowl, trading it for Flag Football. Basketball players gave up playing defense entirely.
Baseball is still the most interesting All-Star Game, but only by default. It won’t ever elicit the same transcendent impact it had before interleague play and before every game was available via satellite/streaming.
But it can still be a captivating experience with the most basic, fundamental thinking to showcase the best players more.
Crafting the Call: the challenges of calling an ASG
This week’s episode of my “Crafting the Call” YouTube series with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler involves the challenges and chaos involving in calling an All-Star game.
Jesse has called three (!) minor league All-Star Games. I’ve called none. (Yes, this still makes me an expert.) Here’s a preview:
A few more of the clips we analyzed:
Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds (Joe Buck, Tim McCarver)
John Kruk fearing for his life against Randy Johnson (Sean McDonough, Tim McCarver)
Steve Bedrosian diving catch and throw to save the game (Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola)
Bo Jackson says hello to America (Vin Scully, Ronald Reagan!)
Pedro Martinez K’s the side of ferocious NL lineup (Joe Buck, Tim McCarver)
Here’s the full episode:
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans and advice for fellow broadcasters. To help support our work, subscribe, like, comment, or send us a suggestion for a future episode.