While some in the national media are sneering at the alleged “No Stars” Game, Major League Baseball, the staff, the players (current and former stars), and the hordes of volunteers have made this All-Star Game one for the ages. Because it was never about the stars. It’s the fans, not the big names on the field, that make this game special, something these columnists just don’t get.

I’ve read several columns deriding the summer classic for the “lack” of star power, missing big some names, using an almost sneering tone that suggests the game should be canceled, and that “it was better in the old days,” citing Pete Rose’s home plate collision, Dizzy Dean’s toe, and Reggie Jackson’s home run, that “their All-Star Games” were somehow better than today’s.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in Georgia. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is @JohnTures2.