WELL, THEY’VE DONE WHAT I THOUGHT WAS IMPOSSIBLE … I SHUT OFF THE ALL STAR GAME!
What the hell are the geniuses at Fox Sports doing to the game I love?? In my opinion they’ve turned what used to be a July highlight in my baseball season into a complete farce.
Yesterday I lamented the use of the idiotic in-game interviews during the MLB Futures Game. During the All Star game they further enraged me by adding ON-FIELD mic’d up players! At first I muted the sound when Freddie Freeman began cutting up with a runner at first base. However, when I saw the ridiculous display of the three Astros players ON THE FIELD chatting and joking during the top of the third I did the heretofore unthinkable … I SHUT OFF BASEBALL’S ALL STAR GAME IN COMPLETE DISGUST!!
Serious baseball fans want to see the catcher’s sign and hear how the defense is aligned. All that is lost in TV’s attempt to mic up players and conduct in dugout interviews. Old timers like Ruth, Gehrig, Williams and Hubble must be spinning in their graves over what TV has wrought.
I used to mark my calendar for MLB baseball’s Midsummer Classic. Then I counted the days until the showcase game. Back then the players and, more importantly, the managers played to win! Not because they got big rewards, no it was for pride, something today’s multimillionaire players lack, big time.
Back in the day superstars like Mays, Aaron, Mantle and Williams played all nine innings. Pitchers like Koufax, Marichal and Gibson threw three innings if they were on top of their game. Winning the game meant a lot to that generation of players. Now it’s like the managers place more emphasis on getting every player into the game and those players can’t wait to get in the dugout.
Add in TV turning the game into a combo horrible reality and stupid interview show and die-hard fans like me want to puke! Baseball wants to attract younger fans and this charade might accomplish that. But, when baseball starts to lose older serious fans like me the game I LOVE is in serious trouble! My nausea has turned into deep sorrow! I’m in mourning for baseball’s All Star game!