Bud Selig solves the wrong problem, again

We interrupt this wine blog to bitch about baseball.

Today Bud Selig announced that because of this year's 15-inning All-Star Game, in which the managers nearly ran out of pitchers, he's considering adding two additional pitchers to the roster for each team.

It's a ridiculous idea, and it won't solve the "problem" of an extra-inning game using up a pitching staff -- which, incidentally, is not a problem at all. Fans and players alike would have loved seeing J.D. Drew pitch the 16th inning. The only people who would have objected would have been the general-sports columnists who live to find things to rant about. But I digress.

The All-Star rosters are already too large: 32 players for one game. In one real baseball game, a team could get by with 21 players because they're only going to use the 4 starting pitchers who don't start the game in an exceptional circumstance. So the All-Star game rosters are already 50 percent larger than they need to be.

These overly large rosters influence the way the game is played. Instead of leaving the best shortstop and second baseman in the league out there for nine innings, the managers feel pressured to let everyone play. They might hold back one position player and a pitcher or two but for the most part, every batter gets at least one at-bat, and every pitcher faces at least one batter.

How is that going to change by adding two pitchers? Will these two be designated the "emergency pitchers," to be used only in extra innings? Not likely. The Players' Association would object for good reason: Many players earn a bonus if they make the All-Star team. I find it hard to believe the Players' Association would sign off on creating two uneven classes of All-Star pitchers.

So how will going from, say, an 11-man pitching staff for ONE GAME to a 13-man pitching staff change anything?

It will mean the All-Star Game will look even less like real baseball. Pitchers will run in to face one batter just to get an appearance, regardless of the score or situation. That will slow the game down, and the long opening ceremony already makes the game feel overlong.

This year's All-Star Game was one of the most exciting in memory. The tantalizing thought of seeing position players pitch added to the drama. This is not a problem. It doesn't need fixing. Leave it alone, Bud Selig.