The 2017 All-Star break has come and gone, with a full slate of games scheduled for later this afternoon and evening. But before we move on from it completely, it’s worth pointing out that this weekend’s activities were a wild success.
According to Business Insider, more people watched the 2017 Home Run Derby than either the NBA All-Star Game or the NFL Pro Bowl. Which, hell ya. Go Baseball, #amiright?
But even things that are working can stand to be improved – And I think I’ve found the perfect way to do it: The Perfect Pitcher Competition.
In the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), there exists a pre-All-Star Game event known as the Perfect Pitcher Competition. Essentially, seven bats are lined up and the best pitchers in baseball have limited time to knock down as many as they can.
Here’s an example of how it works:
#KBO had a "Perfect Pitcher" competition as a part of their All-Star festivities. Here's an example of how it was done: pic.twitter.com/DYy6SCjBsr
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) July 14, 2017
Uh. Yeah, I’d watch the hell out of that.
And it’s not like these sort of pre-main events are completely unheard of in the states. After all, the NBA has the 3-point shootout competition and the NHL has the fastest skater, hardest slapshot, and other accuracy competitions.
Maybe soon, MLB will tack on something special to helps us identift the perfect pitcher … or at least the one with the best command. I’m in.