The Midsummer Classic is Upon Us

Baseball season is long and sometimes dull (especially if your team was eliminated during spring training.) That’s why we have the All-Star Break. A time for players to recharge their batteries, fans to worry less about fantasy stats and more about watching an exhibition, and of course, everyone’s favorite event, the Home Run Derby. Sadly as baseball’s popularity has faded so have the ratings for the All-Star game and the Derby. In order to try and regain some of the summer attention, Major League Baseball has added a wrinkle to try and generate interest from players and fans. This year, despite losing home run leader Christian Yelich to a back injury, the competition should be fierce due to the $1 million prize up for grabs. One two of the participants make more than a million dollars this year in salary. That means lots of young guys with a great chance to double the size of their bank accounts in a matter of hours. If that doesn’t make for an exciting show I don’t know what will.

Meanwhile, tomorrow night, the All-Star square off for midsummer supremacy. Renewed interest in playing in the game means there will be more household names this year and hopefully better baseball. If America’s pastime is going to stop losing ground to football, night’s like this are going to have to capture the attention of young viewers. I grew up loving baseball, playing baseball, and wanting to be half as cool as Chipper Jones. MLB needs it’s new Derek Jeter, it’s latest Randy Johnson and a few less Bryce Harpers. Maybe this year we will see that.