Which is Crazier, Bachmann or Baseball?

Michelle Bachman has argued that Iraq and Libya should pay the United States reparations for "liberating" those countries. Think about that statement. Try to make sense of it. The U.S. invasion has destroyed Iraq. It ruined the fabric of the country. It's as if someone flies from California to your house, wrecks it, kills your family, and demands you reimburse this person for the flight.

The initial reason for the war was self-defense from an imminent attack of weapons of mass destruction. The idea of "liberating" Iraqis from dictatorship only came about when the WMD line fell flat.

Yet, I argue that Michelle Bachmann's statement, as offensive and callous as it is, makes more sense than baseball's All Star Game determining home field advantage in the World Series. As a friend succinctly put it to me, Bachmann's reasoning is sound if not valid.

She believes that the rest of the world is filled with a bunch of children who need the guidance of the United States in order to prosper. Thus, in her mind, the call for reparations has some logic to it. It would be like if your parents sent you a bill for the money they spent on you as a child. Though harboring a dash of logic, it's hard to get ignore the degree of heartlessness Bachmann's statement possesses.

But baseball's All Star Game determining home field advantage in the World Series possesses neither sound nor valid logic. It makes zero sense. The All Star Game is an exhibition that requires a player from each team to be on the roster. The rosters of both leagues are comically enlarged. Players are allowed to come back. This farcical exhibition game helps to decide the champion of Major League Baseball! As we saw this year, the Cardinals indisputedly benefitted from a game they did not even play in. There's simply no logic to it. It is indefensible.

The worst part is that it's so easy to correct. The team with the best record should get home field. It's a question similar to 2+2; there is only one answer.

But there are better wrong answers than the current situation. The team with the best attendance could get four World Series home games. You could go back to alternating leagues. Fans could vote to decide home field advantage. Again, these reasons are all stupid and wrong. They just aren't as stupid and wrong as the All Star Game determining home field in the World Series. To the question of what is 2+2, baseball has answered: 1,394, 638.

So to reiterate, Michelle Bachmann's assertion is insanely stupid, but still not as crazy as how baseball determines home field advantage in the World Series.