I am a firm believer that home-field advantage is a benefit in all sports. With a stadium… I am a firm believer that home-field advantage is a benefit in all sports. With a stadium full of fans cheering for your team, the ball seems to bounce the right way, and the officials tend to make the right calls.

Home-field advantage is often the difference in a game’s outcome, all the way from preseason to the championships. This applies in Major League Baseball, especially in the World Series.

Ask almost any professional baseball player and he will tell you that, when there is a championship on the line, he wants to be at home, in front of his fans, playing on his team’s field – these factors will give his team an advantage over the opponent.

In the past, home-field advantage for the World Series was determined simply by alternating between the American and National Leagues from year to year. That seems fair; just take turns.

This year, however, Major League Baseball added a new twist to its postseason. For now, home-field advantage is decided by which league’s team wins the All-Star game in July.

This is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since the Pirates let Barry Bonds wander off to the West Coast.

In conjunction with Fox Sports, the MLB has decided to launch a “This Time It Counts” campaign to liven up the All-Star game a bit and make it seem important.

The All-Star games of the past have proven to be rather pathetic. Nobody seems to care, and half of the selected players chose to sit out and nurse their aches and pains.

The MLB All-Star game is part of baseball and it has to happen. It’s fun for the city that hosts it and good for the players who are recognized.

But I see absolutely no reason for this single game to have any effect on the two teams battling for the championship in September.

Take the Pirates, for example. Don’t get me wrong, I am as big a Bucco fan as any, but let’s face it: They are not going to see the final rounds of the season.

But the Pirates, regardless of their record, are guaranteed to have at least one player sent to the All-Star game, like all 30 teams in the league.

I think Aramis Ramirez may be the lucky Pirate to be sent this year, and I see nothing wrong with that. He’s playing very well right now.

However, if you’re going to tell me that he should have any role in the fight for home-field advantage in the World Series, you’re crazy.

He and several nominees from other teams already know they’re out of the championship race and they probably could care less about the All-Star Game. So why let it be up to them?

What if Ramirez hits the game-winning homer in the All-Star game and later gets traded to the Yankees and actually plays in the World Series? He would then have ruined home-field advantage for his team.

I’m a marketing major, and I know that the new “This Time It Counts” campaign is nothing more than a marketing strategy to boost the ratings for Fox and bring back fan support for the All-Star game.

It may be good for business, and a few people may actually watch the All-Star game this year.

But I see no reason for this game, which is usually not much more than a circus act, to hold such an honor, especially since the trade deadline could change so much.