Baseball All-Star Game draws record low TV rating

According to Ad Age, it’s the first time in the 50 years that Nielsen has been tracking the All-Star Game ratings that the exhibition failed to crack 10 million viewers.

Eric Hosmer had watched ball after ball launch into the stands during Monday’s Home Run Derby.

For the third time in his career, Madison Bumgarner took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

Kris Bryant of the Cubs led the parade of sparkling young talent with a first-inning home run.

Even though last night’s game was pretty decent, had lineups filled with Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, and had some good moments, it just didn’t reasonate with the viewing public.

The MLB All-Star Game and festivities were completed on Tuesday night.

Now, this far it sounds like Hosmer and Perez could have had an interesting debate for individual honors. The American League team went first, followed by the National League.

It’s why, despite World Series viewership numbers that have drifted below 15 million per game – or less than the average for the NBA Finals – fans and networks keep shelling out for Major League Baseball games.

Perhaps most notable was David Ortiz’s farewell.

What else was memorable in the Kansas City show?

Coming up for the second time in the third inning, Hosmer continued his campaign for MVP as he scorched a RBI single up the third base side, barely missing Kris Brant’s glove. They were unable to capitalize on it in 2014, and were able to beat the New York Mets in 2015, playing more games on the road than at home in their five game series victory. Reasonable minds can debate whether or not a single July game should determine something so important (most seem to agree it shouldn’t), but that’s the deal once again this season.

“This morning I got up and didn’t feel well”. It’s not like it used to be. Now, the face is baseball is 21, 22, 23 years old.

“Being here in front of what’s my second home – I know a lot of people here – it really felt special”, Bryant said. “Honestly, I was just happy to be a part of all this….”

Kansas City, love it or hate it, exemplified this Tuesday. Ortiz left the game when manager Ned Yost put in a pinch runner.

Hosmer and Perez homered in a six-pitch span, and the Kansas City duo drove in all the A.L.’s runs.

“Baseball’s midsummer classic reaffirmed its status as the most popular all-star event in sports and provided an exciting end to an excellent first half of the season”, Michael Mulvihill, EVP Research, League Operations and Strategy told TheWrap.