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MLB All-Star game: Crafting a Baseball Bill of Rights from Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s hard, when you’re in a city this historic and this powerful, not to think about change. The MLB All-Star game is in our nation’s capital this week — Home Run Derby is Monday night, the game itself is Tuesday — and that got me thinking.

So for this week’s installment of my Open Mike video series, I’m starting a Baseball Bill of Rights. The rules we have in the game are (mostly) great — but we could use some amendments.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think I’m just the guy to get us started.

Nationals Park in Washington D.C. hosts this year's MLB All-Star game. (EFE)
Nationals Park in Washington D.C. hosts this year’s MLB All-Star game. (EFE)

What’s on my list?

Let’s just write down all the dang unwritten rules already: The “unwritten rules” stuff has gone on long enough. Let’s write it all down, give to every player and get on with our lives. Everything would be sooooo much easier.

Stop acting like the All-Star break creates the “first half” and the “second half”: Some teams have played 99 games already. A season is 162 games. The math is not hard here, people.

All we need is one trade deadline: We make all this fuss about the July 31 trade deadline, then we have another one a month later? Where’s the specialness in that?

Start paying minor league players a livable wage: Baseball is a $10 billion industry. And minor leaguers are making a few bucks per hour in some cases and living under the poverty line. They don’t all need to be rich, but we can do better than that.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to chime in or add your amendments in the comment section.

PREVIOUSLY ON OPEN MIKE:
A modest proposal to make the All-Star game cooler
“Rookie of the Year” Turns 25
Celebrate baseball’s best holiday: Bobby Bonilla Day
If you think Bryce Harper is a “losing player,” you’re crazy
Some MLB players who deserve your All-Star vote
If MLB contenders were rappers
No, legal sports betting doesn’t mean Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame
Tanking isn’t as bad as you say it is
Pace-of-play isn’t killing baseball — the Fun Police are
Free baseball for everyone

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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