Fun All-Star Game has serious impact on World Series
SAN DIEGO Stephen Strasburg is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Tuesday night, he could have an impact on the All-Star Game, played in his hometown, where he went to college, where he met his wife, where he lives in the offseason. He is healthy, and he will not pitch.
Remember that when the weather turns, when it’s October.
“I think when October comes around, everybody forgets about the results of this game until they realize that, ‘Oh, the American League won it so they get the advantage, or the National League won it and they get the advantage,’ ” Strasburg said Monday.
The All-Star Game was created as an exhibition and a celebration, and it remains such — with a rather large asterisk.
“It’s vitally important,” said Ned Yost of the Royals, who will manage the American League team.
Which is why Strasburg not pitching is a minor thing in July that could seem major come the fall. The winning league in Tuesday’s game, of course, will get home-field advantage in the World Series.
So the least important game of this whole summer will have a direct impact on the most important games of the year. Things that will happen Tuesday night: Yost and his counterpart, National League Manager Terry Collins of the Mets, will lift effective pitchers after one inning (unless they can’t use them at all, as in Strasburg ’s case). They will work as many players into the game as they can, a nod to markets across the country. Collins already made a decision based on something other than winning the game, naming Wil Myers of the hometown Padres as his designated and cleanup hitter.
And MLB already made a decision based on something other than fielding the best roster with its long-standing mandate that every team have at least one representative (we’re looking at you, Twins).
None of those moves contribute to winning the game. And yet ...
“Getting to the World Series and having home-field advantage is No. 1,” said Texas lefty Cole Hamels, who twice pitched in the World Series for the Phillies. “Being in Philly, we never had it. And man, that would’ve done something. I think that would’ve really helped us get going and in a better way, just the energy level, taking control of the game. Home-field advantage, it really does mean a lot in the end.”