Bill Plaschke – Another ATH 1D10T
July 8, 2010 4:42 PM
Bill Plaschke joins his Around the Horn panelist, Jay Mariotti, as a full fledged member of the 1D10T club with his recent rant in the LA Times about the All-Star game.
He writes about a game that has changed even though in his mindset it hasn’t.
A game once famous for Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden’s six consecutive strikeouts is now populated with Evan Meek and Matt Thornton.
You mean the young Evan Meek of the Pirates with the 0.94 ERA and 44 Ks in 48 innings? Or the lefty setup guy from the White Sox, Matt Thornton, who has an incredible 49 Ks in just 36 and 1/3 innings of work? The game has changed. These players are All-Stars in a game that no longer focuses on starters finishing the game. 6 innings is good. So who pitches the other 3 innings? Players like Meek and Thornton.
As if it was 1984 again. As if Fernando was having a great year (he was 12-17 for the year). And that 1984 All-Star game was populated by all Hall of Famers. Hey, Bill, here are three players who were 1984 All-Stars: Jerry Mumphrey, Bill Caudill and Dave Engle. Which teams did they play for? OK, I’ll make it easier, which league were they in?
Oh and Doc Gooden’s three K’s came against Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Alvin Davis. Not exactly murderer’s row, now, was it?
And don’t even get me started about the arrogant snub of Stephen Strasburg.
He mentions how Phillies manager, Charlie Manuel didn’t pick Strasburg without knowing the exact number of starts he had – which is a whopping total of 6 starts. And he should be an All-Star for one month of work? Bill, you can’t be serious. Even Strasburg himself said he doesn’t deserve it.
Who off the NL roster would you have snubbed instead?
Not picking Joey Votto and others is criminal and the reason we should overhaul the All-Star game selections?
Bill, if you are the manager and you picked someone having a breakout year at first base over one of the best sluggers of the new non-steroid era, a former MVP and big time star of the game, you’d be taking yourself to task for snubbing that guy. The guy who happens to be hitting .298 with 16 homers and 62 RBIs. Now, remember that the manager is his every day manager and you’d have to say that’s a no-brainer.
How can you argue with picking Votto at first base, when there are three or four players (Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and yes, Ryan Howard), who have been better over their longer careers?
Votto will probably make the team anyway, so maybe you should have kept this argument until the final results are in. Same with Kevin Youkilis and Jered Weaver. By the time the voting is in, you’ll look more of an 1D10T than you are.
I’m not saying that the All-Star selection is perfect. And I actually agree with one point – it’s ridiculous to have one player represent each team, which could, but won’t fix the entire problem.
Here are his last three paragraphs:
Allowing the fans to pick the starters is a wonderful idea. But get rid of the player voting, which is all based on reputation. Get rid of the manager selection, which is all based on fraternalism. And get rid of the one-player-per-team rule, which is as outdated as stirrups.
I would say that one of these is smart. The others, not so much. MLB should get rid of the each team has a representative rule. This would fix the no-names in the All-Star game. The players deserve the right to help pick who of their peers should be in the game. And who cares about the fraternalism? The team won the pennant the previous year and it’s one of those perks that come with that. If your beloved Angels or Dodgers won the pennant then we would expect that Mike Scioscia and Joe Torre would name his guys. I’m OK with this.
I don’t care if home-field advantage in the World Series is at stake. The perception of baseball’s entertainment value is also at stake, which is more important considering it has fallen behind football and basketball as a national attraction.
And this point is relevant to the All-Star selection argument how? Nobody watches the NFL Pro Bowl, but everyone watches the Super Bowl. People are interested in the All-Star game and usually unless they’re die hard baseball fans and/or their team is in the game, the World Series is not the event it used to be. Neither is the Indianapolis 500, the Triple Crown in horse racing or boxing.
Time has gone and we’re not in the 60s and 70s anymore, Bill. Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you.
League officials should pick the reserves and plan out the game like they plan out any other big marketing event. Baseball’s All-Star game is a midsummer classic, not a vacation frat party, and it needs to once again start acting like it.
Oh, and league officials should pick the players. That’s the most 1D10Tic thing about the article. Yes, let’s make it some committee’s responsibility to select players for the All-Star game. How dumb is that?
In case you haven’t noticed, Bill, the All-Star game has evolved into a vacation frat party from its heyday in the 60s/70s as a midsummer classic. The players remember Pete Rose crashing into Ray Fosse and probably think, “why exactly am I killing myself for a game that matters so little.”
Let’s face it. The game is a diversion from the grind of the 162 game regular season. It’s a way for the fans and players to see that baseball is, still in fact, a game.
Yes, the selection process is flawed, but any selection process is flawed. If you got rid of the each team has to have a player rule and expand the roster to 80 players, the 81st player will be snubbed. It’s the nature of the beast.
So instead of focusing on the players who were snubbed, why don’t we focus on the players who are there and praise them and their accomplishments? Why do we always have to focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right?
Just wanted to welcome you, Bill Plaschke to the 1D10T club. Maybe Mariotti will buy you a drink.
