We've reached the date of the MLB All-Star Game, which is the day after the MLB Home Run Derby, and the day before there's absolutely nothing even vaguely sports-related for people to watch on TV. The All-Star Game routinely draws big ratings that are lower than most of the ratings it's drawn before. But the event has a lot of ground to give before it's drawing lower ratings than, say, whatever's on HGTV. Probably?

In last year's All-Star Game, the National League defeated the American League 5-1 in a cool 170 minutes. That eventually gave the Cardinals home-field advantage in the World Series over the Rangers, and the Cardinals won the Series at home in seven games. Last year, it counted. The year before that, the NL won 3-1 in 179 minutes. Before that, the AL hadn't lost since 1996. It is important to bone up on your All-Star Game result history.

Howzabout this year? Here are some details to know.

Time
8pm ET, allegedly

Channel
Fox

Teams
American League
National League

Starting Pitchers
Justin Verlander
Matt Cain

Managers
Ron Washington
Tony La Russa

Managers who are still actual managers after today
Ron Washington

Available Marlins
0

Previous winner
National League

Previous MVP
Prince Fielder

Favorite/odds
I swear to God don't make me look this up

Location
Kansas City

Tom Verducci over at SI has an interesting article about All-Star Game myths versus truths, which you can read here. What with all the commercials and player substitutions, you might expect this game to go on forever, but at least in recent history it's lasted a reasonable duration, save for the 15-inning affair in 2008. In 2008, there were 15 innings of the All-Star Game. As things stand, it's impossible to know which individual teams might benefit from the game's outcome in the long run, but there is something at stake, and like it or lump it, it's a factor and it adds just a pinch of watchability. Even if you absolutely hate it, watchability is based on emotion, and hate is an emotion. Or a feeling, whatever.

The All-Star Game is coming up shortly, and if you're reading this, you're probably going to have it on your television. We'll be live-blogging in case you're interested in reading what people who don't care about this have to say about this. We're experts!