Tonight, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) crown jewel of an All-Star Game will take place at Globe Life Field, home of the defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers. The 94th edition of the Mid-Summer Classic will see the American League (AL) All-Stars take on the National League (NL) All-Stars, as the AL will look to win after falling to the NL 3-2 in last season’s game.

Nothing quite compares to MLB’s All-Star game. The game itself and its format hasn’t changed much since the first one held in 1933 in Chicago at Comiskey Park. The only significant changes to the game was having two All-Star games each season from 1959-1962, which happened in order to increase the money for the player’s pension funds, and when the winner of the game earned home-field advantage in the World Series from 2003-2016 after the game ended in a tie in 2002.

Another recent change is MLB issuing team hats and jerseys for each league. While each player’s hat displays the team they play for, long gone are the days when all-stars would wear their home or away uniform, based on which league was hosting the game. Many fans, including me, wish MLB would go back to having the players wear their traditional uniforms during the game.

MLB has set the standard when it comes to All-Star games, as the other leagues make a mockery of what the game should be. Being selected as an all-star, no matter the level or sport, is a commendable honor. My seven-year old son was recently selected as an all-star in our local baseball league, and he will be talking about being an all-star until Christmas.

So what make’s MLB’s All-Star game stand out above the rest?

The Pageantry

As mentioned, not much has changed from that first MLB All-Star game. While players in tonight’s game arrived in sports cars for their red carpet arrival, the look and feel of the game puts being an all-star as a true honor.

That pageantry continues into pre-game introductions, which includes athletic trainers, coaches, non-starters, and eventually, the players selected to start for their respective league. No matter your role on the All-Star team, the introductions are something I know everyone involved looks forward to.

You’ll see players “tip their cap,” smile and acknowledge the crowd as they’re introduced before the game.

Look for players to have fun with the introductions, and not too many of them take it as seriously as former pitcher Cliff Lee did at the 2013 All-Star Game.

While player introductions don’t take place for the NFL in their Pro Bowl, they do for the NBA All-Star game.

The NBA used to take the approach MLB does with their game - introductions of coaches, reserves, and starters took place followed by tipoff. Something happened in the early-to-mid 2000’s with the introductions, and they turned into full-on “productions” that rivaled the musicals my high school put on every year. Some of these productions caused delays to the start times for their All-Star games in 2006, 2009, and 2013.

I know the product is different from league to league, but fans attend and/or watch all-star games to see the best players in the league square off against one another. When fans remember things, like the dance Shaquille O’Neal did with the Jabowockeez and the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, you know your product may have an issue. The NBA did routines like this for several years, and recently, have gone back to more traditional introductions for players and coaches.

The pageantry for baseball also surrounds the format. MLB’s All-Star game has also always been AL vs NL, whereas the NBA tried something new recently where they had the top two vote getters from each conference pick their teams. The popularity with that dwindled, as they recently switched back to East vs West for the 2024 game.

The consistency with MLB’s All-Star game and its pageantry has been evident when it comes to TV viewers. Last season, nearly 7 million people watched the game on TV, compared to 5.79 for the NFL’s Pro Bowl Games, and 5.5 million for the NBA’s game in 2024.

Viewership of each all-star game plays into the next category, which MLB does a much better job of than other leagues.

The Pre-Game

Each respective all-star game has its own “game before the game,” and baseball’s is and always will be the best.

The NFL used to have a fun skills competition before their annual Pro-Bowl game. Quarterbacks would have passing competitions, punters would have long snapping distance contests, and running backs would do timed agility obstacle courses while “carrying the rock.” I always enjoyed watching these competitions as it was great to see the players involved taking it seriously.

The NBA’s three-point competition and slam dunk contest used to be enjoyable to watch, as well. Basketball is my least favorite sport, but it was fun to watch the likes of Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, and Nate Robinson win the dunk contest with their creativity, and Mark Price, Ray Allen, and Peja Stojaković win the three-point contest with their sharpshooting skills.

All good things must come to an end, and both pre-game activities for both the NFL and NBA have taken a sharp decline over the last 10+ years.

The NFL’s skills competition still has events like precision passing, but have diverted to other competitions.

Those include “High Stakes” where players catch punts from a JUGS machine and try to hold onto as many footballs as possible, “Snap Shots” where long snappers and centers tried to hit targets from varying distances, and even a golf closest to the pin event that was filmed prior to the games taking place.

The Pro Bowl games take place the week before the Super Bowl, so the players involved are already “offseason mode” and the effort is quite evident in these competitions.

The NBA’s “All-Star Saturday” with their famed two-events aren’t much better.

Many big-time players choose to not participate in these events, and if they did, the ratings would exceed not only the NFL’s skill competition, but more than likely MLB’s Home Run Derby, as well.

The winner of the last two dunk competitions (Mac McClung) play’s in the G-League, which is a developmental league for the NBA, and the winners before him I have never heard of. I tuned in for a few of the dunks for this past year’s competition, and I noticed that the creativity wasn’t that great. In articles written for recent post-dunk competitions, as well, writers have mentioned that the last few years the effort was low and that a lot of dunks were “recycled” or mimicked from competitions past.

The three-point contest’s competitors and competitions have been better, with more recognizable names participating and following up the next year to defend their title.

Sure - it’s an impressive feat to be able to make 25/30 three-pointers, or a recycled 360 windmill dunk, but not as impressive as being able to hit a homer 400+ feet.

MLB’s Home Run Derby, which saw Teoscar Hernandez take home the 2024 crown last night, always takes place the day before the All-Star Game.

The Derby started as an official All-Star Game activity in 1985, and has had continued success on a yearly basis. The competition has stayed the same in its almost 40 year history, with a few changes along the way.

One thing that makes MLB’s Home Run Derby better than its competitor’s pre-game competitions is the effort. Players actually want to compete - and yet some big time sluggers win it once and don’t participate again - at least we got to see them in the derby. How awesome would it have been to see LeBron James participate in the dunk contest? Something he’s never done in his career.

It’s also not easy to predict who’s going to win the derby on a yearly basis. Everyone expected Shohei Ohtani to run away with it at the 2021 Derby at the easiest park to hit a home run (Coors Field), but he was defeated in the first round.

MLB players also show more of an effort when it comes to defending their home run derby title. While last year’s winner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn’t participate this year, recent winners like New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, and retired players Yoenies Cespedes and Prince Fielder have been the “first in line” to “step into the box” the next season’s derby.

The derby also brings unimaginable drama. From “hometown hero” Todd Frazier winning it in his home ballpark in Cincinnati in 2015, to Josh Hamilton hitting a then record 28 home runs in the first round in 2008 at the final Home Run Derby at Old Yankee Stadium, and magnifying his “rags to riches” story, always expect the unexpected.

The effort is evident in MLB’s Home Run Derby, and that effort carries over into the following night for those taking the field in the mid-summer classic.

The Play(ers)

While it is an exhibition game like its counterpart’s respective games, the play of the game in MLB’s All-Star game is by-far more evident and appreciated. Players are incentivized to make the All-Star team every season, and there seems to be more of an overall want and desire of MLB players being there. It’s a pride thing, and I’m sure Steph Curry and Justin Jefferson want to win in the NBA and NFL’s All-Star games respectively, MLB’s game just seems to mean more.

We don’t see many high scoring games in baseball, and that has carried over into its All-Star Game, as well. The biggest All-Star game defeat took place in 1946 when the American League beat the National League 12-0 at Fenway Park. Bob Feller was the winning pitcher for the AL that took place at Fenway Park.

The AL has owned the NL in the last 10 All-Star Games (9-1) and the competition has been great in this games. The AL won games in 2013, 2015, and 2021 by three runs, with the remaining games being decided by two runs or less.

211-186 was the final score for the 2024 NBA All-Star game. No - you didn’t read that wrong.

Fans and players alike for the NBA’s game tune in for high scoring efforts, with the effort not being present. Not much defense is played (obviously), and it has put prior NBA All-Star games, where defense and effort were shown, on the “back burner.” NBA fans now tune in to see who can score the most points and make the most in-between the legs passes to their teammates.

The NFL isn’t much better - in fact they don’t even put on the pads anymore. The 2024 Pro Bowl games were the second time the NFL has held a non-contact flag football game instead of the real thing. The NFL has the most contact in its sport, and the risk of injury in the former Pro Bowl was always evident - but rarely happened. Like LeBron in the Slam Dunk Contest, how cool would it be to Jalen Hurts throwing a touchdown to division rival CeeDee Lamb in a real game?

The game itself, which is played in a 7-on-7 format, was played this season in Orlando and had its lowest TV rating since 2006.

Where MLB also gets it right is its players for its annual All-Star game. This year’s game will feature 32 first-time all-stars, with five of them being starters for tonight’s game.

There are some teams who “stuff the ballot box” for their favorite players (See 2024 Baltimore Orioles fans), but the variety of starters and All-Stars selected is much better compared to the NBA and NFL’s respective games.

Granted basketball’s rosters are smaller, and you’re going to see certain players make their game each and every year. For instance - In this year’s NBA All-Star game, certain players were making their 20th, 14th, and 10th All-Star games, with only four players making their first All-Star game appearance.

Compared to the NBA, the most appearances by players in tonight’s game are 9 (Salvador Pérez and José Altuve).

Nothing compares to MLB’s All-Star game, and tonight’s rendition of the game will be no different than game’s past (unless Shaq appears with the Jabowockeez again).

From the pageantry, to the pre-game, to the play and the players - MLB continues to showcase why it’s the best all-star game in town. Not much needs changed, and MLB realizes that the product they put on the third Tuesday every July will continue to succeed.

Now about those uniforms - Can we switch back to how it was?

REFERENCES

1. Major League Baseball

2. Baseball Reference

3. Basketball Reference

4. National Football League