MLB's All-Star Game Is for the Fans—at Least According to the Media

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

But I would argue that fans are not necessarily the ones at fault here. Blame falls primarily on the media and its influence on what we see (and what we do not see).

Look at this year's two starting rosters. Of the 18 players, six play in cities that, relatively speaking, are small television markets—Joe Mauer (Minneapolis, 14th); Evan Longoria (Tampa-St. Petersburg, 19th); Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle, 13th); Ryan Braun (Milwaukee, 29th); and both Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols (St. Louis, 20th). Molina and Pujols are exceptions, since St. Louis is hosting the event.

Of the remaining 12 players, four are from New York City, the largest television market in the United States. The cities of Boston and Philadelphia, ninth and fifth respectively, each have two players on the starting roster.

However, television markets do not explain everything. Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco/Oakland have no starters on either roster—although, to be fair, Manny Ramirez's suspension is the probable reason why Los Angeles does not have a starter.

Media coverage plays a large part in determining what teams and players we, as fans, see on a daily basis. ESPN acts as a gatekeeper and basically shows us what they believe we want to see.

In a 2000 article for the Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Michael Berube wrote the following:

One SportsCenter anchor opened a story by saying, "After a solid start at the beginning of the year, the Montreal Expos' season has rapidly headed south, to the point at which their games are relegated to this segment of the broadcast," that is at the show's ebb tide, well after all the "important" games in baseball...have been addressed.

In other words, highlight shows such as SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight dictate what we see, when we see it, and how much of it we are allowed to see. The chances today that the Nationals open the highlights on SportsCenter hinge on if some sort of anomaly occurs—a no-hitter, a brawl, a four-home run game, etc.

Therein lies a fundamental problem. Because stronger, more popular teams (Yankees and Red Sox) and big-name players (Manny, Pujols, Alex Rodriguez) are typically covered with greater detail, it may be difficult to track lesser-known players who are having a great season despite playing for a last place team.

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