Send Message
Add Friend
Block User
Invite to Group
Report User 
All StarThe home run derby serves to give us our Berman baseball fix. Or is that his baseball fix?
This event has been tweaked to try to make it better. It used to be one round. Three homers could win it. Then they added rounds. The drawback is that we have the occasional Hamilton/Morneau situation. It is akin to Nate Robinson's 37 dunk attempts. Andre Igoudala and Josh Hamilton probably shared a few beers. Oh wait, perhaps not. At least this year's winner was pretty much the best from beginning to end.
But most people seem to think that this derby lacked something. Was it the lower totals? Was it the lack of name recognition on the AL side? Was it the umpteenth year of "Bawk bawk bawk?" Was it the three hours needed, so that the hitters could look at strikes?
All of that factors into it, but how about this: Busch Stadium. The building looks quite nice. It's better than the concrete donut that once stood across the way. The fans are great.
But Busch doesn't have what the other modern venues have - a gimmick. The home run derby in Baltimore had the allure of "Can he hit the warehouse?" In San Francisco, it was "Can they hit McCovey Cove?" Houston has those train tracks. You get the idea.
Now that MLB has virtually cycled through the new parks, it may be time to try something new. Here are some ideas:
- Call your shot. A game of horse if you will.
- Aluminum bats. First 25,000 fans get helmets.
- Let little leaguers pitch. Imagine being the kid who shut out Brandon Inge.
- Called strikes. After three, start counting them as outs.
Or call this an aberration, and see what happens next season.
I have gradually became more and more uninterested in the Derby. Last year I watched a replay of it just to see Hamiltons crazy round. But I have found that it just gets old sitting there hearing the same things over and over from the announcers, then take the time into account. Most do not have the time to sit there all night to wait on the thing to play out. There are no big names like there was 10 years ago with the McGwires, Sosa's, Juan Gonzalez, Griffeys. Baseball just lacks stars to build the league around like they had in the late 90s and early 2000s. Even if they had the stars we all know they would become a Yankee or Red Sox so essentially some would be left behind because the All Star team cannot be all Redsox or All Yankees. I think the fact that the Red Sox and Yankees spend so much in free agency and essentially buy all the players up, it is making for less parity and less interest in the game. Just take a look at my favorite team, the Braves. They have always had the ability to pull in some key free agents since their run in 1991. I mean we had Bonds but something happened and we ended up with Maddux instead. We got McGriff. Galaragga. Castilla. Neagle. Yet this year they consistently failed. On Burnette. On Furcal. They never got the Peavy trade worked out. The fact is, its hard to get interested in it when you realize that your team cannot compete with the teams that have larger payrolls. Its not just the Home Run Derby is losing luster, its the overall value of excitement in the Majors. I mean occasionally their will be a team or 2 a year that comes along and gets one city excited. Last year the Rays. This year I am not sure which team it is yet, but since the break the Braves have everyone excited. I mean they come out of the All Star break with the 2nd best pitching staff to the Giants and end up in the top 3 in batting average since the break, we took 3/4 from the mets. so far we have took the first 3 from the Giants and put Lincecum in the dugout in 5 innings. But once again I heard the Rays were rolling again. Baseball just needs something to bring back the excitement. Instead of tightening balls of and making for more home runs. I say losen it back up some, make the mound taller again and see if some real dominant pitching gets fans interested. See if we can increase some no hitters. I don't know if its just me, but I loved watching Sportscenter the other night and they broke away to watch Sanchez finish off his no no.
amarant0012:03 PM EST