World Series will open in Cleveland thanks to Royals’ Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez

The World Series will begin here at Progressive Field on Tuesday night, and it will do so because Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez teed off against former Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto in the All-Star Game in San Diego in July.

No matter that the Chicago Cubs, the champions of the National League for the first time in 71 years, led all of baseball with 103 wins in 2016. No matter that the Cleveland Indians won just 94 games, the second most in the American League, before storming to the American League pennant.

The World Series will begin in an American League park for the fourth straight year, because baseball still awards home-field advantage to the winner of that season’s All-Star Game, an exhibition game. It is a system that, each year, leads to a mild degree of absurdity.

Two years ago, the wild-card Royals played host to Game 1 of the World Series after Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels led the American League to an All-Star Game victory in Minnesota. Last fall, the World Series opened at Kauffman Stadium for a second straight year after the American League won the All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

This year, the Royals paid it forward. Hosmer finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a solo homer in the bottom of the second. In the same inning, Salvador Perez added a two-run shot moments later. The damage came against Cueto, the former Royals starter who had earned the starting nod after a sterling first half for the San Francisco Giants. The Royals-centric production held up in a 4-2 victory.

“We know how much that home-field advantage helped us,” Hosmer said. “It just brings that sense of comfort to the team and gives you a jump-start for the whole Series.”

The system of awarding home-field advantage based on the All-Star Game has been in place since 2003, one year after an All-Star Game tie in Milwaukee marred the Midsummer Classic. And now, for as long as the system persists, the arrangement will offer controversy.

Supporters will say there is no perfect system. From a logistical standpoint, it helps Major League Baseball know the possible World Series hosts and schedule before the playoffs begin. And the league’s unbalanced schedule ensures that overall record is not the perfect metric for determining a team’s strength.

But still, there is this: The Cleveland Indians won 94 games this year. The Cubs won 103.

And Hosmer, Perez and Cueto determined home-field advantage.

This story was originally published October 24, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "World Series will open in Cleveland thanks to Royals’ Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez."