Baseball’s mid-season fun is the best

When Kyle Schwarber blasted three home runs on three swings in the mini home-run derby to break a tie in Major League Baseball’s annual all-star game in mid-July, it just confirmed that of all the major sports in North America, baseball does it best when it comes to mid-season (or end-of-year) classics.

Baseball may no longer be the most popular professional sport in North America, but its mid-season all-star game is by far better than the exhibition efforts put forth by the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League.

Most sports fans would probably agree that if they could pick only one sport’s mid-season exhibition — the NHL or NBA All-star game, baseball’s Home Run Derby and all-star game; or the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which happens not at mid-season but following the Super Bowl — baseball’s version would win hands down.

Occasionally, hockey will dump its boring 3-on-3 hockey tournament and play something spectacular like the 4 Nations Face-Off in the middle of the season, but that happens only once in a while. The NBA’s all-star game is a joke, with no defence played and players shooting from long range all game long. Some of the scores in recent years have been 211-185, 184-175 and 163-160. Fans might see some great shooting, but not much else. The NFL’s Pro Bowl has always been lambasted for its lack of hitting, shoddy defence and general fooling around by the players, who treat it as nothing more than a vacation and a nice paycheque.

But baseball’s all-star game festivities have been worth it for fans of the sport. The Home Run Derby on the evening preceding the actual game gets great ratings. Fans love the long ball and some of Major League Baseball’s top sluggers go head to head to see how many dingers they can send into orbit. This year, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners bashed 54 home runs in various stages of the competition to win the top prize.

As for the actual game, it’s a legitimate competition. Players do not slough off, as happens in the NBA, NHL and NFL games. MLB’s best pitchers use their best stuff while trying to fool hitters. Hitters do their best to show off their prowess at the plate.

And this year, because the game ended in a 6-6 tie, a very entertaining home-run-hitting tie-breaker — baseball’s answer to hockey’s shootout — was held. Three players from each team were selected to take part in a mini home-run derby, with each being allowed three ‘swings’ — not three pitches, but three actual swings. The National League, thanks to Schwarber’s three-for-three effort, won the tie-breaker.

If the NHL could come up with something like the 4-Nations Face-Off every year, it would be by far the most popular exhibition event. But those competitions are once-in-every-four-or-five-year deals, so their mid-season borefests will continue to lag behind the excitement produced by the world’s best baseball players.

OUT OF BOUNDS

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Aaron Rodgers goes on Pat McAfee’s show and whines about his lack of privacy — after signing up for a three-part Netflix docuseries on his private life. Rodgers revealed his soul, his family trauma, and his gastrointestinal cleanses on camera, but now it’s our fault for noticing!”

• sportscurmudgeon.com host Jack Finarelli has fun with numbers, while discussing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s new $285 million, four-year contract. “That works out to just under $870,000 per regular season game over the contract lifetime.”

• Mike Bianchi again: “Did the Miami Dolphins really trade a Pro Bowl tight end (Jonnu Smith) and replace him with a guy who was retired (Darren Waller)? Dolphins’ new mantra: ‘If it ain’t broke, replace it with something that might be.’”

• Kyle Porter of the golf site Normal Sport, on Day 1 of the Open Championship: “I care more about if a bird craps on someone than who’s leading on Thursday.”

• Golf writer Joel Beall, after Day 1 of the Open Championship: “Would be cool to see Phil contend this weekend, if only for the chance he uses the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ speech as a plea to ‘release the (Epstein) files.’”

• The New York Times, describing the site of this year’s Open Championship: “At Royal Portrush, situated at the very top of Northern Ireland, the fairways dip and rise as if sculpted hastily from Play Doh.”

• Vancouver comedy guy Torben Rolfsen, poking Medicine Hat with a sarcastic comment about Gavin McKenna’s NCAA defection: “It had to be (a lot of money) to move from Medicine Hat to the cultural backwater of State College, PA.”

• Jack Finarelli at sports curmudgeon.com: “Braves’ bullpen had a ‘Bummer’ (Aaron) and a ‘Blewett’ (Scott) at the ready. Not exactly a great vibe.”

• Former MLB manager Whitey Herzog, snipped from sports curmudgeon.com:: “The only thing bad about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I’d rather go fishing for three days.”

• RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “When James Harden of the Clippers finally quits basketball, he might be the first retiree to spend less time travelling.”

» Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca