Inside MLB’s Home Run Derby problem: Empty seats & an atrocious national anthem
Ingrid Andress’ rendition of the national anthem was one of the more inspiring musical performances you could ever hear, as it would ensure that both you, me and your dog could do the same before 40,000 people.
The stamp on the 2024 MLB All-Star home run derby was not put on by a player, but rather a “four-time Grammy-nominated Country Singer and Songwriter” whose performance left most people at Globe Life Mall wishing she would have tried to hit home runs rather than sing the national anthem.
After the dogs all over Arlington quieted down following her ice pick-to-the-ear drum performance, MLB’s better (not best) home run hitters walked to the plate before a sell out crowd that was not in fact a sell out.
(UPDATE: The day after the event, Andress took to social media to say she was drunk when she performed, and is checking into a “facility.” Not kidding).
The 2024 MLB All-Star home derby had plenty of seats in the right and left field corners. As of 8 p.m. on Monday night, tickets for the All-Star game itself were still available on MLB.com. The announced attendance for the 3-hour HR Derby was 38,578. The stadium seats 40,300.
Let’s see, we added a roof that only occasionally opens and installed air conditioning to play baseball in Arlington. So we can’t blame the heat. Maybe Arlington should build another new stadium, this one without a roof.
We can’t blame the Rangers for what went down on Monday night. The visuals from the “game” speak more to the event itself. The home run derby is not a great product, and it’s terribly over priced.
Tickets in those empty sections were going for $86, on SeatGeek. Talking to a few fans who paid well in advance, and it was closer to $125 a seat. For the “cheap” seats.
Throw in parking and food and drink and a night out at the HR Derby could pay for a subscription to Netflix or Hulu, or both, for a year.
As evidenced by the healthy crowds at the All-Star village the past few days in Arlington, MLB’s All-Star event and its surrounding festivities are fine. They’re doing brisk business, and anyone who says baseball is dying is an idiot.
What needs help is the home run derby. It’s flat. Boring. It’s about 45 minutes too long.
MLB has addressed this issue over the last few years by tinkering with the rules of the derby itself, and the results look like power hitters taking it deep a lot.
What has happened to the home run derby is the same thing going on with the NBA’s Slam Dunk competition. There are only so many dunks to be completed. There are only so many ways to hit a baseball 395 feet.
Maybe if the players were allowed to use aluminum bats. Or, they were allowed take steroids right before their plate appearances.
The highlight of the evening was the two high school hitters who participated in their own mini-derby, but they used aluminum bats. That was good theater.
It doesn’t help when MLB’s premier home run hitters, in this case the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, elect not to participate in the actual home run derby itself.
It’s the same challenge the NBA has when its “best dunkers,” pull the “I’m Too Cool” card and watch the dunk contest wearing their sunglasses rather than actually dunking in it. LeBron James comes to mind.
The other thread to what happened on Monday night are the All-Star events themselves. It’s priced as a premium red carpet Hollywood movie, but the event itself looks like some cash grab, “Top Gun 5” without Tom Cruise.
All of the four major leagues are struggling to find ways to make these All Star games and events fun and “watchable” but it’s tough when the participants make it a point to either avoid them, or barely care.
A thousand plus empty seats at the 2024 All-Star home run derby should be a surprise, but when the product is this combined with the price, can you blame those who passed?
The highlight of the evening wasn’t even a home run hitter but rather the “four time Grammy four-time Grammy-nominated Country Singer and Songwriter” whose rendition of the National Anthem left us all thinking we could do it, too.
This story was originally published July 15, 2024 at 8:36 PM.
