WACK

Participation trophies for everybody!

Well, as we know, the primary goal of the modern ASG manager is not to win the game -- it's to get every player in.

So, for the two or three fans who enjoy watching the absurd spectacle of the manager trying to get every last player in while praying he doesn't run out of pitchers, this should make some aspects of that freak show a little more challenging.

It doesn't do anything to help the enjoyment of the game for most fans; in fact, it detracts from it. Fans want to see star players, and the more the rosters expand, the less star players the fans will see. (And the continuity problems that result from subbing in one player after the other ad nauseum add to the exasperation.) Why the Powers That Be can't understand this simple concept is anyone's guess.

13 pitchers per team available for a single game. This is mental illness of the highest order - non Michael Jackson division.

MORE ROYALS! MORE PIRATES!

MORE NATIONALS!

MORE NATIONALS!

Well, teh Guuuz is hitting .319!

MORE NATIONALS!

This change is the addition of one pitcher. Perhaps Lannan could be considered -- he's had many quality starts -- but I'd be shocked if he were selected.

thirteen pitchers omg tisfu

Disgraceful!

Let's see ... what ELSE could they do to make the ASG yet more of a ridiculous bore?

Not a big deal, if handled properly. You pitch 9 guys one inning each, keep two relievers to be available in case of suckage/matchups, and send 2 starters to the pen in case of extras. And don't use your third catcher unless you have to (I know there's a rule, but just saying). And sub out the guys who shouldn't start early on. There, that wasn't hard, was it? But we could have gotten away with 12 pitchers just fine.

Let's see ... what ELSE could they do to make the ASG yet more of a ridiculous bore?

You could have a bunch of obnoxious ads saying how much the game means to everybody... oh, wait a minute.

I wonder if by expanding the rosters you don't end up eliminating the "play everyone" approach. By having a group of guys who don't play because of the number of participants, including multiple pitchers, you eliminate any stigma attached to not playing- thus freeing the managers to play who they want.

I'm surprised owners would sign off on this considering that it presumably means two more All-Star Game selection bonuses have to be paid.

I'm surprised owners would sign off on this considering that it presumably means two more All-Star Game selection bonuses have to be paid.

An extra what, $50,000 for two teams each year? Is that a big deal?

An extra what, $50,000 for two teams each year? Is that a big deal?

Indeed, it's a pittance, a splendid bargain, when purchasing the opportunity for yet another mid-inning pitching change to face the pinch-hitter for the fourth right fielder since the fifth inning. Sheer competitive bliss!

you eliminate any stigma attached to not playing

Your point is logical, Donde, but the big-leaguer who can sit on any bench without feeling stigmatized has yet to be unearthed.

Your point is logical, Donde, but the big-leaguer who can sit on any bench without feeling stigmatized has yet to be unearthed.

No doubt- guys who don't mind riding the pine don't make it to the bigs, let alone to all-star games. That said, if the managers start managing it more like a real game and the list of guys who don't play include some good players as well as a nice volume of players- the attitude about being the "one guy who didn't play" will go away...maybe.

I think we're all forgetting the epic all-star game chatter. Now there's one more player to talk about!

So Robert Fick could be an all-star again?

This is just utterly stupid.

The problem has never been that there aren't enough players, the problem is that managers try to get every single player in the game, particularly the pitchers, and guys who pitched the Sunday before the game will not beg out, using up a roster spot.

Change the rules on how players are used and make pitchers who are used the Sunday before the game give up their spot, and that would be much better than this.

MANNY!!!

Scutaro better make the damn team now.

Not enough, I say. I won't rest until there are 100 All-Stars per side.

Change the rules on how players are used and make pitchers who are used the Sunday before the game give up their spot, and that would be much better than this.

Prezactfully.

Either enact something that meaningfully counteracts the everyone-gets-to-play silliness, or just dispense with whatever remaining pretense there is that it's a game. Why bother to keep score? If the teams aren't playing to win, why should we spectators care who wins?

Hey Al if they only can get an other 1/2 Dozen players on the squads then I am sure to make my All Star Day Bew this season could this be the time I finally grab the Brass Ring and find Lightening in a Bottle and catch the Bow Kay I just wish Ozzie Guillen was the manager and my trip to Saint Loo would be ashured.

Let's see ... what ELSE could they do to make the ASG yet more of a ridiculous bore?

Play it in knickers with feedbags as bases and 600 foot fences? More Jeannie Zelasko? Play Brahm's Lullaby as at-bat music?

Last year's Chatter was a lot of fun

Dan "Stoneglove" Uggla probably won't be involved this year, so what will we talk about?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090701&content_id=5637846&vkey=news_mlb&fext;=.jsp&c_id=mlb

How Angel Hernandez is one of the 6 best umpires in Major League Baseball this year? (Didn't think it needed a whole thread but needed to give Crispix some relief)

this will give the broadcasters more chances to talk about "snubs".....when the manager uses 32 guys but doesn't get Hunter Pence or somebody in they can wonder why he was snubbed..way too many players, and makes the game even less credible than it was.

MORE NATIONALS!

Get Strasburg signed so he can pitch in the All-Star Game!

Last year's Chatter was a lot of fun

There is no other reason I watch the game.

..and yeah Angel Hernandez is a ####### joke

"Participation trophies for everybody!"

Hey, when you're six years old that matters.

"guys who don't mind riding the pine don't make it to the bigs"

Moe Berg begs to differ