Saturday, May 30, 2009

All-Star Manny

Not one to usually give a rats behind about off the field baseball stories, I would like to chime in about the recent popular topic of whether or not Manny Ramirez should play in the all-star game if voted in by the fans.

Let me get a couple of things out of the way from both sides of the argument before I give my opinion. First off, there is no rule against a player playing in the all-star game if he was suspended during the season. Secondly, the fans historically have made many poor choices in electing which players start for the NL and AL teams. You want the fans to vote, then live with the occasional bad choices. Thirdly, there is a rule in place that says that the league that wins the all-star game receives home field advantage during the World Series. Yes, this is a very lame rule, but it's a rule nonetheless. Home field advantage is historically between 4 and 5%, so of course the extra game at home helps.

My opinion is that Manny doesn't deserve to be voted into the all-star game. That part is probably a no-brainer. But if voted in, he 'should' play and should not be pressured not to play. As long as the rule exists that whichever league wins the all-star game gets home field advantage during the World Series, then each league should make as their top priority winning the all-star game, aka - putting your best players on the team.

Sure Giants, Nationals, Rockies and Astros fans probably don't care, because they have no shot at going to the World Series, but it's not fair to those teams trying to win the all-star game to not have one of their best players just because he did something wrong and was suspended for 50 games. Either A) get rid of the stupid winner gets home field advantage rule, or B) have a rule that is already in place stating that suspended players cannot play in the all-star game. Until either of those take place, then let the guy play if the fans happen to vote him in or the manager selects him as a reserve.

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