I agree with tweaking the All Star Game to keep the real stars in as long as possible. And my agreement only increases when I think of the cutaway reaction shot of (say) Lou Pinella as NL All Star Manager Dusty Baker sends Carlos Zambrano out to pitch the ninth with his count already at 120…

I want Fehr and Selig to have a sprint around the bases.  Winner gets to Roseboro the other.

I think it would be fun if the entire format of the all-star game was changed to increase the competition between the players. My idea would be to have the game between baseball’s Next Generation (guys in atmost their third (maybe fourth) year of service time) versus the Veterans (everybody else). I think this would work because it is one of the few true rivalries that still exists in today’s sports world. No matter how good an athlete you are there is always that fear of what’s next and this could really change the intensity of the game. The Game would lose the conference vs. conference aspect but with interleague play that doesn’t mean nearly as much anymore. We’re not going to see anybody derailing the catcher like Pete Rose back when the game really was important to the players. This will never happen because baseball is all about its traditions, but it’s fun to think about.

i made some possible rosters too:
http://cheapseats-blog.blogspot.com/2008/07/midsummer-classic-mash-up.html

My All-Star improvement plan:
Reduce the rosters to 25
Eliminate mandatory representatives from teams with losing records.
In addition to 25 all-stars, add a AAA starting pitcher and a AAA catcher to both teams for use in emergencies. That way if you run through all your pitchers or your catcher gets hurt, there’s a backup. Since they’re AAA players, there’s no pressure to get them in the game.