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Mets Host 2013 All-Star Game; About Time!

Multiple published reports citing multiple sources say the 2013 All-Star Game will be held at Citi Field. And I say it is about damn time the Mets are given the opportunity to host the game. Shea Stadium was the site of just one All-Star Game, in the park’s inaugural 1964 season. And that’s it. And I never quite understood why.

citiYou’d think MLB would want the Mid-Season Classic in the media capital of New York as often as possible. After 1964, Yankee Stadium played host in 1977 following the stadium’s renovation. And the game didn’t return to the city for three decades until Yankee Stadium closed down in 2008. By the way, I always thought it would have been a cool idea to have the Home Run Derby at Shea that year, then have the game itself at Yankee. It would have been a fitting way to say goodbye to both places.

The game is usually given to new or renovated stadiums, and a lot of stadiums did open over the past couple of decades. But still, you’d think they would have fit in another game for Shea.

Now, Shea did age very quickly, and it wasn’t the prettiest place in the world to watch a ballgame., But neither were Veterans, Three Rivers and Riverfront stadiums. And between 1970 and 1996, each of those cookie-cutter palaces hosted the All-Star Game twice.

There must be something going on behind the scenes about awarding the All-Star Game. For example, Anaheim has hosted the game three times since 1967. That stadium has been renovated several times, but it was never anything special. And Dodger Stadium, perhaps the most beautiful stadium in all of baseball, has hosted the game a total of one time. Once in 50 years. And it took the league 20 years to give the stadium the game, in the 1980 season. That’s just crazy.

Perhaps you can chalk up Shea (and Los Angeles) not getting the game since 1992 to Bud Selig and his anti-New York and big city bias. His own Miller Park in his beloved Milwaukee got the game in 2002, just a year after opening. In contrast, the stunning Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T park in San Francisco opened in 2000, yet had to wait until 2007 to get the game. Hmm, I wonder why.

In any case, it looks like Citi Field will get the game in 2013. Let’s hope the Mets still have players good enough to appear in the game.

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