A few years back, after suffering an embarrasing loss-- Major League Baseball, along with broadcast partner- FOX, termed the phrase- "This Time, It Counts".
The marketing platform was to symbolize, that the long-standing All Star Game, would immediately be elevated from a simple exhibition game to a game that termined Home Field Advantage in the World Series.
The reaction since that 2002 rule has been mixed, to say the least. Most siding with the notion of how ridiculous the notion was- that the league who won the mid-season All Star Game would be the league to recieve a 7th and deciding game in the fall classic.
But i've got news for those nay-sayers.... You're dead wrong.
Adding the extra element of playing for real has quite frankly added the excitement back in the game- that has long since lost its luster.
Did you see last weeks contest @ Yankee Stadium. Yes, the beginning of the game had all the fan-fare, but by the time the 9th innning rolled around- not a single player from either team was missing!
In years gone by, the Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa's of the world, would be lifted in the 3rd inning and showered and gone by the 5th!
But this year - how many of you saw Derrek Jeter being the first player on the field out of the dugout when the clock struck 1:20AM and the American League celebrated in victory in the 15th inning!
And- the quality of play, the intensity, the close calls- gave the once meaningless game a feel of a post season contest.
So like it or not- baseball fans, this rule is here to stay and once again, it's a rule that i think has made the game better today than it was a few years ago!
for the Monday Morning Quarterback, I'm Arny Schreer
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