Well, that was a game. In that it followed the rules of Baseball. I can’t call it exciting, since there wasn’t that much to get excited about. As has become typical for an All Star Game, pitchers aren’t allowed to be in for more than one inning, and batters rarely get more than two trips to the plate. So you’re not going to have to worry about pitchers getting tired or batters trying for three hits. You know, the usual things that add a bit of interest to the average game.

At least we did get to see the matchup that everyone was talking about – Paul Skenes vs Aaron Judge. Frankly, it’s a travesty that we even had to worry about whether it would happen or not. Look, I get that Skenes is a “hot young stud” and you don’t want to break him, but if you’re worried about him pitching more than one inning, make him a reliever and keep him in bubble wrap between appearances. Also, get over the thing about making sure every player on the roster gets to be on the field. It doesn’t matter if they get in the game or not; they are still an All Star. Right?

On that matter, WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO TAKE CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INNING? The guy had only thrown TWO pitches – and gotten two outs – there’s NO WAY he could have been tired! A three pitch inning is one of the rarest things in the game! In ALL of MLB history – in the millions of games and tens of millions of innings – it’s happened barely 200 times. Screw the “Immaculate Inning” (where the pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches) – give me the Three Pitch Ultimate Inning!

Congratulations to Jarren Duran for winning the “I Drove in What Proved to be the Winning Run, so I’m the Most Valuable Player” Award.

It’s nice that the Official Scorer decided not to credit any defenders with an error, even though a few of them really botched a play.

At least this year’s special All Star uniforms weren’t complete garbage. I’d call them “meh”. The blue and teal for the National League was fine; the red and beige for the American League…. Ugh. Could you have made the red darker and the beige lighter to improve the contrast? Look, MLB, you want to showcase the game’s top talent of the moment. Don’t make it impossible to identify that talent, OK? We should AT LEAST be able to READ THE NAMES on the back of the uniforms. And the logos on the shoulder patches – you could have done them in the team colors to make them stand out a bit more. Come on, MLB – are you trying to sell uniforms or the stars of the game?

Speaking of special All Star Game uniforms, I do understand that fans actually buy the things – especially at the game itself. But I have to wonder if the money made on sales comes close to the cost of designing and making the things. One idea for next year that came to mind this week would be to have everyone in their City Connect shirts. Pair them with white pants for the “home” team and gray or dark pants for the “visitors”. We’ve never seen all those special uniforms together – this would be a great opportunity to do that – AND help identify the players on the field, AND strengthen the connection between the players and the cities they represent.

One last thought – The All Star Game has been a pretty dull affair of late. Is it possible that we are in a rare “drought” of superstars? I’m looking over the rosters, and I’m seeing very few players that I’d call “Definite Future Hall of Famers”. A lot of Big Stars who have an outside chance at making Cooperstown, sure, but the vast majority are just players who happen to be having a Very Good First Half. Even with the understandable requirement that each team have a representative, which dilutes the overall roster star power, it’s still a pretty average collection (in comparison).

Go back ten years, to the 2014 All Star Game, and you’ve got two actual (Derek Jeter and Adrián Beltré) HoFers on the rosters, plus at least four who are almost certainly guaranteed once they appear on the ballot (Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Miguel Cabrera), and the usual handful of others who are “in the discussion” (e.g. Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez). The 2004 All Star Game had THIRTEEN Hall of Famers on the rosters. Maybe it’s just the emphasis on youth these days so the players don’t have time to achieve that elevated status, maybe it’s that everyone is at so high a level that it’s impossible to truly stand out…. I hope it’s really not a symptom of an overall decline in player talent.

Off-Season project: For every year, if you went to a random game, what are the chances you’d be seeing a Hall of Fame player? (It’s OK to exclude those who probably shouldn’t have been selected for the Hall, and add those who should be there except for some non-baseball circumstances). Also, what regular season game would you have to have been at to see the most future HoFers on the field? Giants-Dodgers in the 1950s? Yankees-Red Sox in the late 40s?