- Belly-Itchers - I've mentioned this here before: Don't let All-Star pitchers pitch, it's boring. Sure, Halladay striking out five of six batters is a demonstration of talent, filthiness, or further proof that he is the dominant right-hander of his generation, but, as Glavine and Maddux put it, "Chicks dig the long ball"
So, instead of Greinke, Halladay, Santana, Marquis, etc, the game should be thrown by middle-of-the-road relievers: the Farnesworths, the Julian Tavarezes, and back-of-the-rotation starters: Wang, Matsuzaka, Willis.
Poorer pitching means more hitting which also means more defense, and who doesn't like defense? Instead of one or two good looking double plays, we'll get dozens of sprinting dives, bare-handed grabs, near-collisions, and daring stabs at liners in the hole. - School-yard Pick-em - Plunk Everyone has the run down on this. Basically, fans vote, as they do now, but the leading vote-getter from each league becomes the captain of their squad and picks from the rest of the all stars, from both leagues. There should be a special award for the all-star picked last.
- Home Run Catching Contest - This might need to be moved off-venue, but I would love to see a 600-foot outfield fence for the Home Run Derby patrolled by All Star outfielders. Any hitter that gets it past the 410 mark gets credit for a home run, but, if Ellsbury or Ichiro or Hunter can track it down and catch it, they win $500 (or something, incentivize it anyway you want, I'd just love to see these guys be awesome when they don't have to worry about running into a fence at full-tilt.
- Wiffle-Ball! - Make the AL and NL pitching staffs play each other in a wiffleball game before the HR derby. This is brilliant. They can use the short fence from the celebrity softball game. Imagine seeing major leaguers make a wiffleball dance? Alternately, if you're worried throwing a 3 oz. plastic ball will screw up their mechanics, they won't pitch, just hit and field. We'll have a couple position players pitch. Swisher, Kapler, Lowell. In fact, if a position player has been called in to pitch at any point in the first half, they get an automatic pass to the All-Star Pitchers' Wiffleball game.
Other ideas? Make them hit with old school bats that weigh forty pounds like Ruth and Mantle did? Pull a fan randomly from the seats to manage the bullpen or draw up the batting order? Play with tennis balls and plastic bats? Everyone plays the game with their glove on the wrong hand! Others?
-t
6 comments:
those last ideas are kind of stupid. i mean if they made the all star team that means they have a great talent, so don't make them play opposite hand or heavier bats. they're all stars because of what they can do with their glove on the normal hand and their bat when they're swinging.
Or, you could just play the game at the new Yankee stadium and watch a ton of home runs :-p
or they could do the homerun derby at yankee stadium and the all star game at the park they're really playing at. or HR derby at a little league field. that would be hilarious
I don't want more home runs, I want more defenseive plays. Strikeouts are boring (unless you're striking out Pujols, then you're a magician)
well i agree about pujols, he's a beast. and more defensive plays would be amazing, so i like the idea of using heavier bats or a longer outfield fence. so what i think they should do, build an all star stadium, 500 or 600 feet to the fence, using heavier bats, and all that fun stuff. keep away from home runs, and use OK pitchers, not the cy youngs we have pitching today.
personally, i love home runs. they make the game so much more exciting. defensive plays are great too, but i would rather see a walk off home run than a game won by a good defensive play. but back to my last point, it would be that much more exciting when somebody does hit a 500 or 600 foot home run. it would be amazing.
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