ASG winner getting home field for the WS...

scotty216brs said:

I'll put a friendly $5 bet on the NL team winning, even with those pitchers not playing in the game they still have the better overall staff IMO.

I will say that Russell and Vogt are the 2 that stand out to me that probably should not have made the team....to say otherwise is nitpicking really, but these are the best players in baseball this year. Yes there might be a few pitchers who will be inactive but they still made the team. (And I did chuckle, Jordan, when you said 'none' of the best pitchers in the NL are on the team....when the likes of Scherzer, Arrieta, Fernandez, Cueto, etc...are on the team. )

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I actually should have said *most* of the best NL pitchers, not *all*. Kershaw, Bumgarner & Strasburg are the 3 best NL pitchers based on rWAR & Kershaw/Syndergaard are the 2 best based on fWAR so either way you look at it, the best 2 or 3 NL pitchers won't be at the All-Star game. Cueto, Scherzer, Fernandez & Arrieta are all great pitchers who rank top 10 on one or both of the sabermetric websites so it's not like we've got a roster full of crap pitchers or anything.

It's true though, if you look at all the top ranked players via advanced metrics most of them are on the All-Star team with some snubs along the way. However a decent portion of the selections end up declining or dropping out of the All-Star game (generally pitchers).

BTW, The NL is actually favored.

And I actually like the one per team rule in general but not if the game carries that significance...

I'm still going with the AL this year.

My prediction: 6-3 AL Team

Even without the NL's best 2 or 3 pitchers on the mound, their next best pitchers (who are still very good) are superior to the AL pitching staff. However, I believe the AL has a much favorable offense to make up for it, particularly those Red Sox players.

I'm with the grounds crew.

There are logistical problems in having record determine HFA. Stadia are booked months or years in advance, and a team that unexpectedly makes the Series, like the Astros almost did last year, can cause real headaches. Fans can't plan travel between, what is it now, 12 different cities with just a couple weeks notice, which is still 4 possibilities with just a couple days notice. So you can't have LCSs go down to game 7 without know where you're playing 2 days later. I'm not even sure about the fairness of best season record. Sure, a team that goes 105-57 is likely better than a team with an 87-75 record and goes on a Cinderella run and one could say that they deserve to be "rewarded" but they already were with HFA through the playoffs. I believe the old way was just to alternate between leagues, evens for National, odds for American. That is fine. Not everything deserves a reward at every step along the way.

No. its a exhibition,

I don't see anything changing soon..

All-Star Game and home-field advantage (2003–present)
Prior to 2003, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated from year to year between the NL and AL. After the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a tie, MLB decided to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winner of the All-Star Game. Originally implemented as a two-year trial from 2003 to 2004, the practice has been extended indefinitely. The American League won every All-Star Game since this change until 2010 and thus enjoyed home-field advantage from 2002, when it also had home-field advantage based on the alternating schedule, through 2009. From 2003 to 2010, the AL and NL had each won the World Series four times, but none of them had gone the full seven games. Since then, the 2011 and 2014 World Series have gone the full seven games.
This rule is subject to debate, with various writers feeling that home-field advantage should be decided based on the regular season records of the participants, not on an exhibition game played several months earlier. Some writers especially questioned the integrity of this rule after the 2014 All-Star Game, when St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright suggested that he intentionally gave Derek Jeter some easy pitches to hit in the New York Yankees' shortstop's final All-Star appearance before he retired at the end of that season.

As Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe wrote in July 2015 about the rule:
"So now we have a game that's not real baseball determining which league hosts Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 in the World Series. It's not a game if pitchers throw one inning. It's not a game if managers try to get everyone on a bloated roster into the game. It's not a game if every franchise, no matter how wretched, has to put a player on the team ... If the game is going to count, tell the managers to channel their inner Connie Mack and go for it."

With the 2006 World Series victory by the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa became the second manager to a win a World Series in both the American and National Leagues. However, in four of the last six seasons, home-field advantage, in terms of deciding World Series games, has not necessarily worked for teams of said games. Four of the Series (most recently in 2015) have been won on the road. Starting with the San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series victory, which was followed by the Giants victories in the 2012 World Series and the 2014 World Series, The Giants started what many around the sport of baseball consider to be a modern baseball dynasty, as most consider winning three World Series in a 5-year span in baseball today is incredibly difficult and thusly worthy of the dynasty title.

The 2011 WS between StL-Texas was definitely decided by the Cards having Home Field in that Series.

The NL won the AS game 5-1 in Arizona that year...

gt2590 said:

The 2011 WS between StL-Texas was definitely decided by the Cards having Home Field in that Series.

The NL won the AS game 5-1 in Arizona that year...

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Nah, David Freese decided that series.

It shouldnt count,
If you want to make it competetive,
let the winning team get $100,000 a player

Casebusters said:

It shouldnt count,
If you want to make it competetive,
let the winning team get $100,000 a player

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But the biggest issue isn't the incentive, it's the roster rules being different than a "regular" game, even though it counts for something important now...

smapdi said:

There are logistical problems in having record determine HFA. Stadia are booked months or years in advance, and a team that unexpectedly makes the Series, like the Astros almost did last year, can cause real headaches. Fans can't plan travel between, what is it now, 12 different cities with just a couple weeks notice, which is still 4 possibilities with just a couple days notice. So you can't have LCSs go down to game 7 without know where you're playing 2 days later. I'm not even sure about the fairness of best season record. Sure, a team that goes 105-57 is likely better than a team with an 87-75 record and goes on a Cinderella run and one could say that they deserve to be "rewarded" but they already were with HFA through the playoffs. I believe the old way was just to alternate between leagues, evens for National, odds for American. That is fine. Not everything deserves a reward at every step along the way.

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Wait.......WHAT?!


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Actually like the idea of paying the winners a bonus. Maybe a matching donation to their charity of choice, etc


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death2redemptions said:

I'm still going with the AL this year.

My prediction: 6-3 AL Team

Even without the NL's best 2 or 3 pitchers on the mound, their next best pitchers (who are still very good) are superior to the AL pitching staff. However, I believe the AL has a much favorable offense to make up for it, particularly those Red Sox players.

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Well I was close...but the AL did score twice as many runs as the NL (as I had predicted).

I have no clue why the majority thought the NL would win, I knew this was going to be an easy defeat for the AL. No Kershaw, Bumgarner, Syndergaard, Strasburg and a lineup full of undeserving Cubs (except Rizzo & Bryant...they deserved it) vs. a beastly offensive AL lineup.

death2redemptions said:

Well I was close...but the AL did score twice as many runs as the NL (as I had predicted).

I have no clue why the majority thought the NL would win, I knew this was going to be an easy defeat for the AL. No Kershaw, Bumgarner, Syndergaard, Strasburg and a lineup full of undeserving Cubs (except Rizzo & Bryant...they deserved it) vs. a beastly offensive AL lineup.

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I'll fulfill my friendly bet promise if you want to pm me your Paypal addy.

NL definitely had a ton of chances to win that game, that you can't deny....so no need for the arrogant "I knew it would be an easy win for the AL" comments, because I would not call that an easy win for the American League. You take out Cueto and the NL outpitched the AL, even without the 4 top arms. NL pitching is deeper as a whole, AL is topheavy with a significant dropoff once you get past Sale, Indians staff, Quintana, Sanchez.

And Zobrist was deserving, 10th in the NL (15th in ML) in OBP to go along with a ~2.5WAR...pretty solid. Granted he should have been the reserve, but it is what it is. Not a perfect system but it keeps the fans involved.

scotty216brs said:

I'll fulfill my friendly bet promise if you want to pm me your Paypal addy.

NL definitely had a ton of chances to win that game, that you can't deny....so no need for the arrogant "I knew it would be an easy win for the AL" comments, because I would not call that an easy win for the American League. You take out Cueto and the NL outpitched the AL, even without the 4 top arms. NL pitching is deeper as a whole, AL is topheavy with a significant dropoff once you get past Sale, Indians staff, Quintana, Sanchez.

And Zobrist was deserving, 10th in the NL (15th in ML) in OBP to go along with a ~2.5WAR...pretty solid. Granted he should have been the reserve, but it is what it is. Not a perfect system but it keeps the fans involved.

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No need to send any money, besides we never shook internet hands so it doesn't really count

The NL pitching, even without Kershaw, Bumgarner, Syndergaard & Strasburg, was far superior to the AL pitching rotation but IMO superior pitching doesn't really win All-Star games because the pitchers only get 1-2 IP each and even really bad pitchers could be effective in that situation. For instance Robbie Ray is incredible the first time through the order and then he implodes 2nd/3rd time though. His name just came to mind because I'm a D-Backs fan but I've seen many various bad pitchers who are perfectly capable of blowing through the order the first time through but they just don't have the stuff to be effective next time though. The really good pitchers have the deceptive stuff to continue dominating but when it comes to the All-Star game it doesn't really matter.

I've always believed offense is what wins All-Star games and this year the AL was stacked. The other reason I was so certain they'd win? The fact that in the last 20 All-Star matchups the AL has won 16 of them & tied once. I have gotten used to witnessing the AL win seemingly every year. Since the All-Star games began back in 1933 the NL actually has one more win than the AL but I got into baseball back in 1996 so I wasn't around to watch when the NL was dominating.

Yeah not sure why the NL doesn't win anymore, ut the AL has dominated for a long time now. You seem to be right about the pitching as I figured Fernandez and Miller would both pitch 1-2-3 3K innings but they were 2 of the worst pitchers in the game lol.

No matter how good the pitchers are, every single hitter on those teams is good. Kind of a hard spot to be in as a pitcher as its not like facing a normal lineup.

It's a stupid idea from get go. That idiot Selig trying add something that isn't going to work after his special All-Star game blew up and turn to a tie. If they want to make it meaningful play for cash. That way you see how many willing try hard if they want few extra ten grand or more with bunch of incentives such as extra money on doubles, homeruns, strikeouts. Endless possibilities on playing for cash