As we get closer to the beginning of the 2015 MLB season, fans continue to discuss should the mid-summer classic mean what it means today? After the 2002 MLB All-Star game which ended in a tie, the following season and since, the league who is victorious in the mid-July game has earned home field advantage in the world series.
Since 2003, no world series has seen a home team post a record of under .500. Furthermore, seven of the last ten World Series have been won by the same league that won the mid-summer classic.
Over the last 20 years, only four world series champions have won it all without having home field advantage in the fall classic. The teams are the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, 2003 Florida Marlins and the 1999 New York Yankees. Of these world series championship teams, the 2003 Marlins are the only ones that played a series that went past five games.
While many statistics may prove that winning the mid-summer classic is often an indicator to which league wins the world series, there are some people who do not like this idea.
Tyler Drenon of sbnation.com says it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the winner of the home run responsible for who gets that fourth home game in October.
Some have suggested that home field should be determined by the league that wins the most games in interleague play. In the NBA and NHL, the team with the best record in the final rounds earns home-court/ice/field advantage.
Many people believe the reason the All-Star game means so much is because the ratings that FOX gets, since that game and the fall classic are both on FOX.
In 2003 when this new rule took effect, I was in support of the league that won the mid-summer game would get home-field advantage in the world series. Since that time, I think making what some call an exhibition game worth more that what it is really worth is not what should determine home field advantage in the fall classic. Nor do I believe that what happens in the home run derby should mean anything when it comes to determining which team gets that fourth home game in October.
My main issue with this rule is that the All-Star game is in July and the fall classic is in October. Much can change in the unofficial second half of the season and to put an arbitrary end date in July is not right. The way that home field advantage should be determined is by which of the two teams have a better record in the regular season and the tie-breaker in the event both are the same should be which team has the lowest team ERA during the regular campaign. If that number is the same, it should be which team has scored the most runs.
In short, September games shouldn’t be played just to determine who wins the wild-card or division but September games should be played to find out who gets to host a potential seventh game of the fall classic. If this rule I am proposing is eventually adopted, it will give fans another reason to watch games when some start paying attention to the beginning of the College Football and NFL season. As a result, this could lead to higher TV ratings, which is the same goal that FOX has during the mid-summer classic but looking more legitimate to baseball fans.
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