Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game was fun.
We saw the players and crowd at Petco Park give the Red Sox’ David Ortiz, who announced his retirement prior to the season, a huge standing ovation; we saw some home runs, first from the Cubs’ Kris Bryant then from the Royals’ Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez; we even saw the Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez do, uhhh, whatever this was to break up a double play in the top of the third.
In a weird way, Gonzalez’s slide was a good reminder of the absurd stakes the MLB has decided to tie to the All-Star Game since 2003: Home-field advantage for the winning side. This year, the American League bested the National League 4-2.
Imagine if come October, the Cubs are traveling to, say, Boston for a Game 7 because of a July exhibition game. Imagine if the Cubs have to win their first World Series in 104 years on the road simply because the AL beat the NL in a game where Gonzalez jokingly did the splits to prevent a double play.
Tuesday night’s All-Star Game was fun, but that’s all it should’ve been about — not postseason repercussions.
