Ruining All-Star Weekend

I want to compliment Major League Baseball on their attempt to make the Home Run Derby an international affair. Baseball is played all over the world, and attempting to make the All-Star Weekend a multi-cultural event is fun and exciting. The idea was to select eight players, with each player hailing from a different country and have them compete in the Derby.

As per usual, there were several hitches, namely injuries. Derek Lee was sidelined with an strained left shoulder, and so Mark Texiera replaced him as an American representative. Miguel Tejada didn't want to represent the Dominican Republic; he recommended David Ortiz, and Big Papi was only to happy to comply.

However, there was a hitch involving Japan. Hideki Matsui wasn't an All-Star, and felt that he shouldn't be in the Derby because he hadn't made the All-Star squad. This opened up the way for Ichiro Suzuki.

Now, Ichiro is not a power hitter. He had only 37 homers in his first four years and has only six home runs this season. However, it is pretty much agreed that he could hit 25 to 35 home runs if it was required of him. Every day in batting practice, he puts on a show for his teammates.

Unfortunately, the chance to see him demonstrate his power skills on a national stage was missed when he too declined the invitation. Desparate, the MLB chose as a replacement...

Hee-Seop Choi?

Choi, a fourth-year player, has never been much of a performer. He has 38 career homers, with a moderate 13 this season. He is not a big-name player and does not have legions of fans following him, the way Ichiro or Matsui do.

This move is bad on so many levels. For one, if you're trying to make it international, why would you go with Korea? There is no Korean influx of players in the majors - fact is, Choi is the only Korean big-leaguer. Instead, why not go have a representative of Mexico? Get Vinny Castilla. While not a big name player, he does have power, having hit more than 40 home runs three times and hitting 35 in 2004 (when he led the NL in RBIs). And if Vinny bows out, why not go with the ever-popular Julio "The Ageless Wonder" Franco?

By tainting the Home Run Derby, MLB is one step closer to making all of All-Star weekend totally uninteresting. The All-Star game was already messed up (due to the 'one representative from every team' rule) when Bud Selig made the insane decision to have the game determine home-field advantage in the World Series. That is batshit crazy. The All-Star game not only doesn't count in the standings, but it isn't even played like a normal game: each team will probably have around eight pitchers throw, and upwards of 20 to 25 position players will have had playing time by the end of the game. Why would you want a meaningless game determining home-field advantage in the most important series of the year?

The All-Star break should be one giant party. People should be going to the game, going to the Derby, drinking beer, having fun, tailgating, eating hot dogs, and enjoying the game of baseball. None of it should be serious; it's all just for kicks. So adding incentive to win - making it a serious competition - really hurts the whole weekend. I mean, don't you think that Albert Pujols, David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds, and Tony La Russa will be playing cutthroat baseball because they want to win?

What's worse about the move to make the Home Run Derby international is that it stinks of a publicity stunt. With the World Cup of Baseball looming around the corner, MLB seems to be trying to get early publicity for it by turning the Derby into a international competition. This would be okay if everything went off with out a hitch. However, once certain players bowed out - such as Matsui, Ichiro, Derek Lee, and Miguel Tejada - MLB should've scrapped the whole idea and gone with a tradional Derby lineup. Keeping players like Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez out of the Derby is a crime - and so is letting in Hee-Seop Choi.