NEWSLETTER
With the renovations at Wrigley Field in full swing and scheduled for completion around 2019, it’s been no secret that the team is hoping to get the All-Star Game back to their home ball park for the first time since 1990.
Indeed, at the Cubs Convention, Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney said the Cubs are hoping to host the All-Star Game in 2020. The primary obstacle, of course, is the existence of other teams wanting the game – the selection is within MLB’s discretion – and the new stadiums, built with public funds, that MLB probably wants to adorn with some extra attention.
To that end, a Cleveland.com report indicates that the 2019 All-Star Game decision has been made, and it’ll be the Indians’ home at Progressive Field. Cleveland has not had an All-Star Game since 1981, then at Municipal Stadium [Edit: Apparently I can’t scan a list of ASG venues very well. Eyes glazed over 1997, when the game was last at Jacobs Field.] Progressive Field – then Jacobs Field – opened in 1994.
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So, with the All-Star Game going to Cleveland in 2019, MLB will have hit up another “new” stadium that hasn’t yet had the game [Edit: See the edit above. So much for that theory.], and also will break up a string of four straight National League sites getting the game (Reds in 2015, Padres in 2016, Marlins this year, and Nationals in 2018).
Those two things could make it a little easier for MLB to pull the trigger on giving the game to the Cubs at a fully-renovated Wrigley Field in 2020.
The Cubs are far from the only team with a good case to get the game in 2020, though, so we’ll have to wait to see what comes out over the next year or so.
Here’s hoping folks will still enjoy the All-Star Game by the time the Cubs get it, even though it no longer decides home-field advantage in the World Series …
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