The obvious intent of Joe Buck and John Smoltz interviewing Bryce Harper and other players during the All Star Game was for Major League Baseball to better market their stars.  Other aspects of the game like the Home Run Derby certainly have accomplished that goal.

Certainly, we have seen players like Ken Griffey, Jr. reach new heights in his fame because of his exploits in the Home Run Derby.  We have seen that happen once again as the lasting image from this year’s All Star festivities was Aaron Judge winning the Home Run Derby.

You know what wasn’t accomplished from this year’s All Star Game?  Making the other stars in baseball a household name.  It begs the question whether baseball can do anything to remedy that.

In endeavoring to answer that question, there are a few caveats.  First and foremost, the public arena is much more crowded than the days when Babe Ruth or even Mickey Mantle were the most recognizable sports faces in America.  Another issue is ESPN is more dedicated to promoting the NFL and NBA than they are with promoting MLB. That has seemingly always been true of Sports Illustrated as well.

One area baseball where baseball is lagging behind is YouTube.  Consider this.  When you search for Michael Conforto, one of the bright young stars in the game who just made his first All Star team, there is no MLB sponsored video of his highlights.  The odd part is there are many of them, including his World Series heroics:

However, there is no real compilation of all the great things he has done.  Conversely, if you search for the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, here is the NBA created compilation of all of his highlights:

The NBA knows what it has in the Greek Freak, and they are more than happy to highlight it. They highlight it despite his playing for a mid-market team. They made it despite his never making it out if the first round of the NBA Playoffs. 

Conversely, Conforto is a young star in New York, who had already had a huge moment in a World Series.  Don’t think he’s big enough to merit his own highlights?  Neither is the Greek Freak in a league of LeBron, Durant, Curry, Harden, etc. 

Even if you don’t think Conforto deserves his own highlight reel, there has to be someone in baseball who does. There aren’t any. 

Not for Harper. Not for Judge. Not for Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, or Noah Syndergaard. None. 

And it’s not just one player. Who wouldn’t want to see a video of a collection of epic bat flips?  A video of Jose Bautista, Yoenis Cespedes, and whoever else who’s had a huge bat flip. 

Point is there’s a number of compilations for both events and players. There aren’t any by MLB on YouTube. 

When all baseball talks about is what’s wrong with the game, maybe they should start with marketing its stars.  They’re terrible at it, and they always have been. Cutting a highlight video with the highlights from their biggest stars is one of the easiest things they can do. 

Show us your best players at their best. Let us see it whenever we want, so we can be drawn to the TV to see those players pull off their next great play.