I don't think the All-Star Game should determine home field advantage of the World Series

[Spy Fox]

I think having home field advantage determined by best regular season record is the more fair system, and I would slightly prefer that. But although I would probably change the rule if I was commissioner, I don't really mind the current arrangement. It doesn't take any enjoyment out of watching the All Star Game and the effect on the World Series results is small and undeterminable enough that I don't see it as a fight worth raising a banner over.

[DrungoHazewood]

I think having home field advantage determined by best regular season record is the more fair system, and I would slightly prefer that. But although I would probably change the rule if I was commissioner, I don't really mind the current arrangement. It doesn't take any enjoyment out of watching the All Star Game and the effect on the World Series results is small and undeterminable enough that I don't see it as a fight worth raising a banner over.

I would give WS home field advantage to the team with the smaller population within 20 miles of their home stadium. If the Yanks ever want four WS games at the House that Big Stein Bought they have to move the whole thing to Des Moines.

[Scrat1]

The all star game is only slightly less boring than the home run derby, which is only slightly less boring than lap 86 of a NASCAR race.

[Migrant Redbird]

I think having home field advantage determined by best regular season record is the more fair system,...

Not when the teams have different strengths of schedules.

I would give WS home field advantage to the team with the smaller population within 20 miles of their home stadium. If the Yanks ever want four WS games at the House that Big Stein Bought they have to move the whole thing to Des Moines.

That's funny and it makes about as much sense as your earlier statements.

While the All Star game is an exhibition, that doesn't preclude it from having a meaningful outcome beyond bragging rights.

Managers can play to win and still endeavor to get most of their players into the game. After all, we're dealing with the best players in the game here. Pinch hitting Paul Goldschmidt for Joey Votto isn't like batting Cesar Izturis for Chris Davis. Managerial substitutions will only marginally change the odds of a successful outcome in most cases.

I still think that opposition to the All Star game determining the WS home field advantage is driven mostly by antipathy to Bud Selig, not rational arguments. It's actually a fairly trivial issue; after all, we're not talking about the DH or the use of PEDs here, both of which have a far greater negative impact on the game.

Winning the all Star game confers a small but real advantage to the league's representative in the World Series and it's very likely that players on the 2 World Series teams contributed either positively or negatively to the All Star game result, although it would be rare for them to have been either the game's star or its goat. It would be interesting to go back through the All Star games to compare how many of the players who starred in those games ended up in the World Series that year.

I did look at the 1987 All Star game, won by the NL in 14 innings. Having home field advantage could have well changed the outcome of the 1987 World Series, since the home teams won every game that year and the deafening noise in the Metrodome definitely impacted the Cardinals.

In the 1987 All Star game, the Cardinals and Twins representatives were mostly non-entities. Kirby Puckett was the lone Twins representative and he went 0-4. The Cardinals had Jack Clark, Ozzie Smith, and Willie Mcgee on the NL roster and they went a collective 0-9. Oakland pitcher Jay Howell gave up the winning runs, scored by Ozzie Virgil (Braves) and Hubie Brooks (Expos). Tim Raines (Expos) drove in both runs with a 2-out triple. Lee Smith got the win, but that was while he was with the Cubs, and Sid Fernandez (Mets) got the save. The NL batted .143 and the AL batted .174, so a lot of All Stars had "O-fers" for the day.