St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright reinforced Tuesday — inadvertently, of course — that Major League Baseball is doing it all wrong when it comes to its All-Star Game.
Ever since MLB started jamming the whole “This One Counts” charade down everyone’s throats in 2003, the All-Star Game has been an annual attempt to balance seven million different interests. The result is an event marred by inconsistency, which was brought to the forefront Tuesday when Wainwright said after exiting the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minnesota that he grooved a couple of pitches to New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter in the first inning.
Wainwright has since backtracked on his claims, as the general reaction to his comments was intense. The stir caused by Wainwright seemed to stem more from the pitcher’s admission than the actual act of giving Jeter pitches to hit, with a common opinion expressed on social media being that it detracted from the shortstop’s leadoff double and the overall pageantry of the moment.
Jeter didn’t seem to mind.
“I don’t know, man. If he grooved it, thank you,” Jeter told reporters. “You still got to hit it. I appreciate it if that’s what he did.”
Jeter’s response shows the strangeness of the upheaval. Granted, Wainwright should have kept his mouth shut. If he did, this would be a non-issue and Jeter could ride off into the sunset after a nice two-hit effort in his final Midsummer Classic without having to answer any questions about being tossed a couple of grapefruits in his first at-bat. But because Wainwright opened his mouth, the All Star Game’s general conflicts of interest inherently have been slapped back onto the table for the whole world to bicker about.
The whole thing is a mess, really. Major League Baseball wants to push the All-Star Game as this meaningful game, which, in reality, it is if you consider home-field advantage in the World Series to be meaningful. Yet it’s only treated as meaningful in certain instances.
Trotting out a 40-year-old shortstop with zero range and a .647 OPS over someone having a better season is considered OK because it’s part of the spectacle. Managing with the intent to get everyone into the game is considered OK because it’s part of the tradition. Picking spots with hometown players is considered OK because it just seems like the right thing to do. Chucking a couple of meatballs to a retiring veteran is OK — as long as you don’t admit to it — because it’s his last hurrah.
Where is the ultra-competitiveness in all that?
Technically, the game does count. But there really hasn’t been a drastic deviation from All-Star Games of yesteryear from a philosophical standpoint, and Tuesday’s scene further showed the contest still is viewed as a meaningless exhibition by most, including the players.
Wainwright’s initial admission to grooving pitches was pretty boneheaded — albeit honest — because it brought unnecessary attention to the situation. His actions, however, were exactly in line with what was expected from whoever faced Jeter during his final All-Star moments.
This one (still) counts. But it shouldn’t.
Photo via Twitter/@NBCSports
