Cleaning out the notebook this week with some post-All-Star Game reflections and pre-trade deadline observations while looking forward to the annual pilgrimage to Cooperstown, N.Y., for baseball's Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
I have to admit it was a delicious taste of irony when this year's All-Star Game went extra innings and every position player managed to get into the box score. Granted, it wasn't quite the same as 15 years ago, when they ran out of pitchers, halted the game and started a storm of controversy that revolved around the outcome of the game determining home-field advantage in the World Series for the next 14 years.
For the life of me I never completely understood what was so wrong with that idea. The chief argument was that the team with the best record should earn home-field advantage, and it's hard to dispute that argument -- but the fact is home field was never determined by the best record. It rotated between leagues, which logistically is likely to prove easier than the current setup, which could have as many as seven teams eligible for home-field advantage in the World Series three weeks before it starts. It could develop into a traveling snafu. But, hey, that's why teams have traveling secretaries.
