Thank goodness for Shohei Ohtani. If not for him adding to his amazing season — the best season in baseball history — the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night would not be worth watching. Please allow me to suggest “Everybody Loves Raymond” on TV Land as preferred programing once he is done for the evening.
I’m just hoping Ohtani doesn’t back out before the first pitch from Coors Field in Denver.
It seems like just about all of the other superstars have.
On Saturday, MLB announced 10 replacement players for those who elected to skip the game for a variety of reasons. Among those sitting out are Jacob deGrom, Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve and Yu Darvish. Even the replacements had second thoughts about going to Denver. Yadier Molina was named as a replacement for injured Buster Posey but decided to withdraw about two minutes later in order to rest a banged-up foot.
Curiously, all four Houston Astros picked to the American League squad, including an apparently healthy Altuve and Michael Brantley, are skipping the game. You don’t think it has anything to with the Astros’ cheating scandal from the 2017 and 2018 seasons and the players wanting to avoid that sensitive subjective and the boos that go with it, do you? Are you really that cynical?
Making matters much worse for MLB was Ronald Acuna Jr.’s serious knee injury Saturday. He is one of baseball’s young superstars and was the leading vote getter among National League players. He will miss the rest of the season because of a complete tear of his right ACL. Talk about an awful break for the Atlanta Braves and the sport.
Acuna has a legitimate reason for missing the All-Star game, but a number of those who have opted out don’t.
I’m convinced many, if not most, players would love to skip the game. They want to be All-Stars, for sure. They want the prestige and fame that goes with it. They definitely want the bonus money that often goes with it. They just don’t want to play in a meaningless exhibition game. They would rather use the four- or five-day All-Star break to spend time with their family and get some rest before the grind of the unofficial second half of the season. That makes sense to a point. But it also does nothing to promote their sport, which, you may have heard, is dying a slow death in terms of fan popularity.
If those players aren’t interested in playing in the All-Star game, why should we be interested in watching it?
The All-Star games in the other pro sports also have become laughable. The NFL’s Pro Bowl might be worst of all. Players frequently opt out. So do their replacements and their replacements. All who were picked for the game can say they are Pro Bowlers. That’s why the Pro Bowl designation has become virtually meaningless. Only being All-Pro counts anymore.
The NHL was so desperate to get its stars together for a game that it instituted a rule that calls for a one-game suspension for a player who is picked to the All-Star game and doesn’t show up unless he missed regular season time with an injury. That led to Alex Ovechkin being suspended in 2020.
These All-Star games really are a joke, far exceeded by the skills competitions that go with them, such as the Home Run Derby, the Slam Dunk contest and the hardest slap shot event.
Go ahead, watch Ohtani. No one has ever seen a player like him. He is scheduled to start the All-Star game as the American League’s designated hitter and also should pitch. As Pirates manager Derek Shelton said the other day, “We’re going to talk about this guy for the next hundreds of years as transforming the game.”
You know, the way Babe Ruth did.
While you are at it, check out how Adam Frazier does as the National League’s starting second baseman and how Bryan Reynolds is used as a reserve outfielder. Both have had fine seasons in yet another dismal Pirates season. Both are first-time All-Stars. Both are deserving.
But after Ohtani, Frazier and Reynolds are done?
Switch to “Raymond.” You won’t be disappointed. I love that show. The cast is wonderful, especially Marie Barone. I can promise you this: She will show up.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: July 12, 2021, 10:00 a.m.