My Plan to Fix the All Star Game

Yep, I'm fixing another one of baseball's problems:  the All Star Game.  This year's All Star Game was terrible, but even if it had been competitive, the managers still would have ruined it.  It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since the All Star Game ended in a tie.  I was outraged.  This is America, we don't like our sports ending in ties.  NFL football games have the possibility of ties, but they are very rare.  Baseball games cannot end in ties.


So the 2002 All Star Game made Major League Baseball realize there was a problem, and they tried to fix it.  They've expanded the rosters.  They put home field advantage for the World Series on the line.  I think having 34 man rosters is pretty silly.  A lot of people don't like having home field in the World Series determined by the All Star Game, but I don't think that's any worse than alternating it like they used to.  The problem is that managers still try to get everybody into the game.  As long as that's the case, the All Star Game will be terrible.


Fortunately, I have a solution.  We can leave the rosters at 34 players (I would like it to be less than that, but we can manage).  The rosters will be made up of 14 pitchers and 20 position players.  But here's the solution:  4 pitchers and 5 position players are designated as extra inning players.  They can only play if the game goes longer than 9 innings.  So for the first nine, the managers have 10 pitchers and 15 position players to work with.  Ten pitchers is plenty for nine innings.  A couple of starters should pitch 2-3 innings each and it won't be a problem.  If there's a DH (I would definitely get rid of the change that they made where there's a DH even in a National League stadium), that means that 6 position players are available on the bench for the first 9 innings.  And that means at least three players are playing all 9 innings.  Problem solved.


Bud Selig, you really need to hire me as your VP of Common Sense.  I'll fix Opening Day, the All Star Game, and I'm going to make sure the Toronto Blue Jays never have a home game on the Fourth of July.