Hoping to restore some of the old sizzle, Major League Baseball owners voted 30-0 Thursday to give home-field advantage in the World Series to the representative team from the league that wins the All-Star Game.
The players union, which has expressed some opposition, must approve it but it’s likely it will be implemented in time for the 2003 game July 15 at Comiskey Park.
“It’s not just an exhibition game,” Commissioner Bud Selig said. “It’s a game that should be played with great intensity. People talk about marketing the game. Well, this is a great way to do it.”
Not everyone agrees.
“It’s not something I’m in favor of,” New York Mets left-hander Tom Glavine told the New York Times.
Home-field advantage in the World Series historically has been rotated between leagues. The team hosting Games 1 and 2 has won the championship in 18 of the last 22 Series, including the last eight that have been extended to seven games.
No guarantees everyone will play along
Certainly Commissioner Bud Selig has figured out the answer to these questions.
Then again, maybe not. You’ll see for sure this summer in Comiskey Park.
1. All-Star managers skippered the previous season’s World Series teams and chances are they’ll be in the hunt again. What if they ride a divisional opponent’s starting pitcher to a) help their own team and b) wear out their rival’s best gun?
2. Must every MLB team still have a player on the All-Star team? If so, is that fair?
3. Will fewer players play in a nine-inning game? Will starters play entire games, as Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Tony Oliva did in the 1966 10-inning game?
4. Will more All-Stars skip the game since they’ll be asked to put forth a real effort? Will voting become even sillier as fans stuff the ballot box in an attempt to get lesser talents on the other league’s roster?
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5. Like it or not, the highlight of the MLB All-Star weekend is the home run hitting contest. But if superstar sluggers start wanting to rest for added duty in the “real game,” will they bow out from having to take dozens of cuts in a meaningless power contest?