Anyone Care about the All-Star Game?

How do you feel about the policy of Major League Baseball, decided a few years ago - after the 2002 game ended in a tie - that the winning team of the All-Star exhibition Game yields its Division home field advantage for the World Series? This has honestly been pretty much all I could think of leading to tonight's annual showdown (well besides wondering how I score a spot in the Bay behind AT&T Park to catch an out-of-the-parker).

Agree or not with MLB's decisions... I still watched (and cheered for PU-jols... how I affectionately pronouce Pujols' name) the Home Run Derby last night, voted for friend-of-a-friend Chris Young of the Padres in the "All-Star Game Final Vote", and await anxiously the results of tonight's game (the only reason that actually watching tonight's game isn't on that list is that two of my own softball games take precedence).

I've lately been intrigued with the number of stories floating around professional baseball and all the history that surrounds traditions and age-old rivalries... for instance, when Jackie Robinson was so celebrated earlier this year, a number of people wondered what about the American Leaguer, Larry Doby?!

As for tonight's events, this little tidbit popped up in my inbox the other day (from the Washington Post)...

A little-known fact about Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, which will be played Tuesday in San Francisco, is that the game was not invented by a league employee. Chicago was hosting a Century of Progress Exposition, a precursor to the World's Fair, in 1933 and organizers wanted a sports component. Arch Ward, the Chicago Tribune sports editor, came up with the idea of a baseball exhibition between the National and American leagues in which fans would pick the players. Babe Ruth hit the first All-Star Game home run and the event has been a mainstay in US sports ever since.

Sports are such a fascinating part of American history and I love every bit. Everyone has a different take on all of the action... if you're a Nationals' fan like me, you can't go wrong getting your daily update and fun tidbits from the Nationals Enquirer.

As for tonight... let the best group of the best players win!