NEWSLETTER
The 2015 All-Star Game is coming to my neck of the woods, relatively speaking. According to John Fay, the Cincinnati Reds will host the 2015 All-Star Game, the first at their new-ish ballpark, Great American Ballpark. The Reds last hosted the All-Star Game in 1988, and an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.
Many folks believe the Chicago Cubs have been, and will be, pushing to host the All-Star Game at Wrigley Field once their renovations are completed, or are at least mostly complete. Well, the five-year renovation time frame makes things tricky, together with the Reds news. The Nationals were believed by some insiders to be getting that game, so they’re instantly a favorite for 2017 (the game generally alternates between leagues each year).
Might, then, the Cubs not get the All-Star Game until 2019? Well, the renovation won’t be fully complete, according to the currently-proposed schedule, until the 2018 season, so maybe 2017 wouldn’t have worked anyway. The Cubs last had the All-Star Game in 1990, so the time frame is appropriate from that perspective, as well. For what it’s worth, Bud Selig has suggested he’d be willing to promise the All-Star Game to the Cubs in the near future as a carrot to the city of Chicago with respect to helping out on the Wrigley renovations (the All-Star Game brings with it a healthy economic impact).
So, yeah, 2019 is starting to look like it’ll be a fit, but, of course, there are other new parks to visit, too.
This year’s All-Star Game is at Citi Field in New York, and next year’s entry is at Target Field in Minneapolis.
