I have always been against the All-Star Game determining homefield advantage for the World Series, and tonight’s game was a good example of that. Jim Leyland, american league manager, kept his starters in longer than the National League did and longer than what had been done in recent years, because as manager of the Tigers, he knows he has a chance to go to the World Series again. So, he is playing to win a little more than the N.L. manager. In addition, one of the purposes of this game is to get as many players into the game as possible, which again affects outcomes. There was an excellent example tonight of a manager probably feeling he had to make a decision in line with how the game is played instead of trying to win. The american league led 2-0 in the 7th inning, and the N.L. had a man on first, one out, in the bottom of the 7th. The tying run was at the plate with one out. The N.L. had a lefty batter up, Domonic Brown, so Leyland brought in a lefty pitcher to face him and only to face this one batter. I saw Brown bat against lefties earlier in the week and he really struggled, so I knew he wasn’t going to get a hit. Since Brown hadn’t hit yet in the game, it would have looked very bad to pinch hit for him in that situation. In a real game, the smart move would have been to pinch hit a righty, but since this is the All-Star game, the manager almost had to let him hit. Of course he struck out, and the N.L. didn’t score. This is a perfect example of why this game shouldn’t matter.
Homefield advantage is very important in the World Series. 7 of the last 10 winners had homefield advantage, 25 of the last 32 winners had homefield advantage, and 7 of the last 7 Game Sevens were won by the team with homefield advantage.
I’ve always believed it should alternate as it used to, but if something has to determine this, I think it would be best to base it on the results of interleague play for that year, or for the previous year if it’s not possible to use the current year’s results.
Larry,
The National League won the All Star Game three years in a row prior to this year………..why didn’t I hear anything from you about your feelings after any of those games?
My feelings about this have never changed. I was against the All-Star Game determining homefield advantage from the moment they suggested it, and have been vocal about it. I’ve also said for years that if they won’t alternate and need a determining factor, it should be interleague play. Since the american league has won interleague play for many years in a row, this would have worked against the National League. However, I think that’s a much better and more fair way to do it.