Published by
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
DENVER — The All-Star Game is designed, above all, to be a showcase of the sport. Oh, in the good old days, when there was no interleague play to intermingle the players, the results clearly meant more, exemplified by Pete Rose infamously bowling over Cleveland catcher Ray Fosse in 1970. Humiliated by the All-Star tie in 2002, MLB tried to manufacture some midsummer gravitas by awarding home-field advantage in the World Series to the winning league. But the concept never really took hold and was quietly dropped a few years ago, lamented by no one. Now the All-Star Game, returning after a year’…