How the 2000 All Star Game Changed Baseball (and Atlanta)

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Things Are Looking Good Braves Country 📈

Well, we are through first full month of the season. If you told me that we started 0-7 and added that within the first 30 games…

… we lost Reynaldo Lopez to injury after just one start

… had to put Strider back on IL

… Chris Sale is only 1-2 with almost a 5.00 ERA

… we went to Colorado and didn’t hit a single home run (!)

I would have told you that there is NO WAY we are only two games below .500. When you look at all the negatives, a 14-16 record feels pretty positive. As winners in 9 of our last 12, now seems like the best time so far this season to host the reigning champs. Let’s make Truist as loud as Ronald’s grand slam off Walker Buehler in the 2018 playoffs. (Holy moly can you believe it’s been over 6 years since that moment?!)

Speaking of years ago, it will have been a quarter-century ago this summer when the MLB All-Star festivities return to Atlanta, with the last time obviously being hosted at Turner field. Let’s revisit that weekend, and discuss what the All-Star game really means.

Remember the 2000 All-Star Game?

Atlanta hosted the 2000 MLB All-Star weekend, less than a year after making it to the 1999 World Series (we won’t talk about what happened…) The starting lineups featured some of the game’s legends.

The American League lineup featured Iván Rodríguez, Jason Giambi, Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Manny Ramirez. The rotation featured two future Braves with Tim Hudson, an Oakland Athletic at the time, and Derek Lowe who was with the Red Sox.

The National League Lineup was similarly loaded: Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Jeff Kent, Chipper Jones, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey Jr. The NL’s rotation featured Glavine and Maddux, along with Randy Johnson and Trevor Hoffman.

Before telling you the final score of the game, read those lineups again and guess…

Okay now I’ll tell you that A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, and Cal Ripken Jr. didn’t play due to injury…

And now I’ll tell you that the NL was without Bonds, Piazza, McGwire, and Griffey Jr…

The host-town hero Chipper Jones hit a homerun off AL starter James Baldwin, but the NL still lost 6-3, thus giving the Yankees home-field advantage in the World Series later that season where they eventually beat the Mets (silver linings!) in five games.

Yep, most of you remember that the All-Star game used to mean something. Up until 2017, the winning league in the July game was rewarded with their eventual World Series representative getting the home-field advantage in October.

So, the question is: should the MLB All-Star game mean anything?

Let’s look at the other professional sports leagues.

The NBA festivities are such a snooze fest that they have to call up G-League (basketball’s minor league) players just to have a dunk contest. Then they try to incentivize the players to try by giving multi-millionaires a cash prize (boring).

The NFL has the pro-bowl, but c’mon, have any of you watched the Pro Bowl in the last decade?

The NHL replaced their All-Star game this year with the “4 Nations Face-Off” tournament which was ELECTRIC. I heard people who didn’t even know Atlanta used to have an NHL team (go Thrashers!) talking about the tournament and how they hoped the U.S. would destroy the other three countries.

This national pride is felt in the baseball realm during the World Baseball Classic which will take place again in March 2026, but baseball is America’s pastime 24/7/365. How do we make the All-Star game matter again? Or should it matter?

The Home-Run derby, despite rule changes seemingly every year now, is always a blast. Should we have more skill competitions? Best bunter, fastest base runner, pop-time competitions, etc…

As it stands, the home-field advantage is given to the pennant winner with the best record. Honestly, makes sense. So assuming that remains, how could we make the All-Star game matter more than just an exhibition?

The winning team gets money? Boring. The players on the winning team get money donated to charities of their choice… that’s more interesting.

The players on the winning team get a no-trade clause added to their contracts if they want? Or they get an extra player-option added? No way the owners let that happen.

Let us hear your thoughts— should the MLB All-Star game matter?

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What to Watch for Next Week ⬇️

Next week we will look at players we can expect to see in Truist Park come this July’s Midsummer Classic, including the Braves with the best chance to represent us on the national stage. Until then, let’s go Bravos!

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