Baseball All-Star Game News and Information
Here is this week’s news and discussion relating to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.
Now that All-Star Game voting has opened, the casual fan may be wondering how to make an informed vote. We’ve compiled this season’s statistics in three key categories below. The stats we focus on are WAR, WPA, RE24.
What metrics did we choose and why?
WAR: “The WAR value calculated for a player is claimed to be the number of additional wins his team has achieved above the number of expected team wins if that player was substituted by a replacement-level player: a player that may be added to the team for minimal cost and effort.” Source: Wikipedia
WPA: “Win probability added (WPA) is a sport statistic which attempts to measure a player’s contribution to a win by figuring the factor by which each specific play made by that player has altered the outcome of a game.” Source: Wikipedia
RE24: “is based on the concept of run expectancy, which provides the average number of expected runs per inning given the current number of outs and placement of baserunners.” Source: FanGraphs
Leaders are listed for each league and position, along with our pick (based on positional rankings across all three metrics). Interestingly, the only consensus picks at this point are Brian McCann, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Daniel Murphy, David Ortiz, and Bryce Harper.
Here is this week’s news and discussion relating to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.
Date: Tuesday, July 12
Game Time: TBA; Television coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time)
Location: Petco Park
TV Network Coverage: Fox (US); Multiple International Networks
Radio: ESPN
Cost: Approx. $275 and up through resellers
Tickets: Sold out; available through resellers such as Vivid Seats, Stub Hub, Cheap Tickets, Ticket City, Prime Sport, Ticket Network, Seat Geek, and Tickets Now.
Here is this week’s news and discussion relating to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.
Now that baseball season is underway, talk of the All-Star Game has started up. Here’s a recap of this week’s headlines:
By Tom Nagel
Voting for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game starters has officially begun. As was the case in 2015, this year’s vote will be online and mobile only, with fans having the option to cast their ballots via the ballot on MLB.com, text messaging, and the MLB.com At-Bat mobile app.
Fans will be able to vote up to five times per day (technically, per 24-hour period), and up to 35 times in total. The voting period is scheduled to end Thursday, June 30.
According to MLB, a record 620 million votes were cast in 2015, which surpassed the previous record of 391 million in 2012.
More details about this year’s vote are available in the press release from MLB announcing the start of balloting.
By Tom Nagel
For those who are interested in purchasing a ticket to the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game without having to go through a reseller or purchasing San Diego Padres season tickets first, you must first register for the All-Star Week Ticket Opportunity, which is a drawing that determines who will get a chance to purchase an All-Star ticket strip. Each ticket strip includes:
The deadline to register for the drawing is tomorrow, April 20, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. According to MLB, the drawing is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 25th, with winners being notified later in the week (on or about the 28th). For those who are eligible or have been selected for the opportunity to purchase ticket strips, the sale of those strips is tentatively planned to occur on or about Friday, May 6.
The registration form is available on the MLB website, where individual tickets for the FanFest and All-Star Sunday are already on sale. In addition, discounts for FanFest tickets are available on Tuesdays and Fridays; details are available on the MLB FanFest ticket page.
By Tom Nagel
Major League Baseball has unveiled the cap designs for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, as well as the jersey and cap designs for the All-Star Workout Day and Home Run Derby.
The All-Star Game caps will feature a gold outline around the team logo, gold metal stars around the eyelets on the front panel, and gray brims. On the reverse, a pair of stars will flank the MLB logo, as will be the case on the back of the player jerseys. Each jersey also will feature the player’s signature on the front at the bottom right, with an ASG patch appearing on the sleeve. Jerseys otherwise will match each player’s regular uniform, with American League players wearing their home jersey and the National League wearing road jerseys despite playing in an NL ballpark, San Diego’s Petco Park.
The Workout Day caps and jerseys will have an orange, brown, and yellow theme that pays homage to the Padres uniforms of the 1970s and ’80s. The caps will be brown with a white front panel, featuring the team name in orange retro lettering, and a yellow brim. The NL jerseys will be primarily brown with yellow along the edges and sleeves, with the colors reversed for the AL.
In January of 2014, BleacherReport predicted that 7 up-and-coming players would make the All-Star Game within 3 years. Those players were: Byron Buxton (OF), Oscar Taveras (OF), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Archie Bradley (RHP), Francisco Lindor (SS), Gregory Polanco (OF), and Austin Hedges (C). Tragically, Oscar Taveras passed away in a car accident in October of 2014. While each of the other players has received recognition on some level, none have yet reached the level of MLB All-Star. This year may be the year for one or more of these players, but the 2016 All-Star Game will mean the expiration of this prediction.