Interleague play needs to die in a fire.

Tomorrow night, those of us who have addictions to baseball will tune into the most recent in a crappy overhyped All-Star game. It "counts," except it really doesn't at all (see this column here for a good analysis as to why).

Analyzing the problem:

--Interleague play blows donkeys. I don't even think it was "nice for a few years but now it should go away." It sucks. I don't give a rat's ass whether or not my hometown team has a rival across the state (or several states away), it really doesn't matter at all to me. This is an excuse to get the Yankees/Mets and Cubs/White Sox on television for greater revenue, but I'd argue that out of those two markets, there really can not be any more interest than a regular game. (even the Bay Area and LA can't care about this more than an average game)

--Interleague play was ALWAYS a bad idea and a bad way to fix an actual competitive issue -- the fact that there are 14 MLB teams in one league and 16 in the other. It's inherently more difficult to compete in the NL than in the AL.

--Fans suck at voting for the best player for the job. How is this game supposed to "count" if you allow people who know fuck all about baseball voting for some guy who they liked last season who loved Jeebus? Josh Hamilton is just the latest in a long line of undeserving All-Stars that got in for one reason or another (usually a nice nod for historical reasons, but sometimes people just picking someone who's popular -- Teixeira -- over someone who's deserving -- Branyan).

--Because the fans know fuck all, we have giant rosters designed to capture at least one player from each team and all the deserving players the fans missed. There are 25 players on a regular season roster, yet 30+ on an All-Star roster for one game? I don't actually mind the one person per team rule, because it ensures that each team has at least one person there representing them. If I were an Oakland fan and there were no requirement that anyone on our team make the ASG, I wouldn't give a shit and wouldn't watch. So that requirement I get.

--The players don't care. For once, I will not pile on Pedroia, who despite not being of All-Star caliber this season has a legitimate family reason to be away for the break. Throw on top of that anyone actually on the DL and unable to play, you're clear. But to fake an injury or to just take off speaks to how incredibly unimportant the game has become.

--Hey, let's throw one more cascading fuckup on the pile -- because there are 30+ players on the team, the managers have to become more concerned about playing everyone, for some reason. So, when the fans get it right at put Pujols in at first, for some reason the coach is going to feel obligated to pull him after four innings and not care that there could be a late inning situation where the best hitter in the game is on deck as opposed to... well, the NL 1B's all pretty well rock this year, but you get the idea.

To be fair, if you're going to have fan voting, the "last player in" thing is pretty cool, and I'm glad we have the Futures Game and even the stupid celebrity softball game, but I think you could even throw in a few more things that would be fun, like a 90-foot dash or something, so we can see Michael Bourn and Carl Crawford duke it out.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:

--Cut interleague play. You'll find a scheduling issue between the two leagues, because of the 14/16 split, so do one of the following:

----Move Milwaukee back to the AL Central, kick Kansas City to the AL West.
----Move Arizona or Colorado to the AL West, moving Houston to the NL West.

--I realize that cutting fan voting would be hugely unpopular, but kill the mandate that the fan voted individuals must start.

--Cut the rosters down to 25 players. Have the fans select a batter at each position (8), then the players vote / managers select the remaining 16. The Last Man promotion is fine and can stay.

--Anyone who steps out of the All-Star game for non-injury reasons is not allowed into another All-Star game ever (with the possibility for a one-time exception).

--(the most difficult part) MAKE MANAGERS ACTUALLY MANAGE TO WIN THE GAME. If I'm Charlie Manuel, tomorrow night Pujols never comes out. Ever. I'd let Halladay throw three or four innings, ditto Lincecum.