The MLB All-Star Game

Tonight, the best (ahem, Yasiel Puig, ahem) the MLB has to offer will showcase their skills at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Detroit’s Max Scherzer (13-1, 3.19 ERA) and his different colored eyes (no, seriously, if you haven’t seen this, his eyes are different colors) will start for the American League against the Mets very own superstar, Matt Harvey (7-2, 2.35 ERA). This is one of the best games of the summer, partially because there isn’t much going on this time of year. Yet, all I hear on the radio and in papers is how the game is a joke and should mean less than it does. Yes, while any All-Star Game has it’s fallacies and laziness (looking at you NBA and NFL) at least the MLB version has meaning that impacts the Championship. The winning League in the MLB Midsummer Classic gains home field advantage in the World Series. This should be enough for every player to go all out. Yet, we still see some sluggish play from players who are not on contenders. This, however, does not discredit the validity of the game. I will never forget in 2007 when Ichiro Suzuki blasted a ball off the right field wall at AT&T Park in San Francisco and made a trip all the way around the bases. IF he did not hustle, he could have simply stopped at third and not have sweated or not have been short of breath. But Ichiro proved the game meant something to the players, that something makes them go all out for this game that happens annually.

But, what happens when not all the best players make their teams? Exhibit A: Yasiel Puig. What happens if the National League loses by a run? People will say that Yasiel Puig would have been the difference. Do I believe that? In a word: YES. The game is for the best players of the season up to that point. Yasiel Puig, although he did not have as many games played as say, Freddie Freeman or Bryce Harper, has been the best player up to this point and the most electrifying, captivating player in the league right now. A mysterious kid form Cuba who defected to Mexico is most of what we know about Puig. He is a great player, but is not playing a game for great players. And so, should the National League fall to the American League tonight in the Big Apple, let the doubters of Puig’s validity say whether or not he would make a difference. All I will say is that he could be the difference between winning and losing. It’s just too hard to stop a speeding train.