Coors Field to be the site of the 2021 ASG

Papisgod

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Perhaps 4th lowest capacity in baseball has something to do with it (COVID notwithstanding).
 

JimD

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Is there a narrative as to why Boston seems to never be in the running any longer? Like generally (not just this year)?
In theory, it shouldn't be their 'turn' for another decade, since there are 30 MLB teams (assuming that each would like to host the ASG).
 

Marceline

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Is there a narrative as to why Boston seems to never be in the running any longer? Like generally (not just this year)?
Since 1999 when it was last in Boston, no other team has hosted more than once. New York is the only city to have it more than once in that span (Yankees/Mets).

Several teams/cities have gone longer than Boston has with no All-Star game:

Oakland 1987
Toronto 1991
Baltimore 1993
Arlington 1995
Philadelphia 1996
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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The new ownership has almost invested as much money as a new ballpark into Fenway since 2003, so if not for hosting the ASG in 1999 Boston would probably be rewarded. I'm glad Fenway hosted with Teddy Ballgame still alive and Pedro at the peak of his powers, but a mere 10 years later the ballpark was exponentially better.

Philly also had unfortunate timing, as they hosted the ASG at their old sterile Vet without a hosting opportunity at Citizens Bank Park.
 

trekfan55

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The new ownership has almost invested as much money as a new ballpark into Fenway since 2003, so if not for hosting the ASG in 1999 Boston would probably be rewarded. I'm glad Fenway hosted with Teddy Ballgame still alive and Pedro at the peak of his powers, but a mere 10 years later the ballpark was exponentially better.

Philly also had unfortunate timing, as they hosted the ASG at their old sterile Vet without a hosting opportunity at Citizens Bank Park.
Plus Fenway celebrated 100 years in 2012. Perfect oportunity.

But at least I can understand if they are going through the whole league.
 

Leather

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Is there a narrative as to why Boston seems to never be in the running any longer? Like generally (not just this year)?
Why would Boston be a better choice than Denver, who hasn't had it since 1998, has a much bigger capacity, virtually-guaranteed good weather, and is centrally-located? From a non Boston-centric point of view?
 

RSN Diaspora

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Why would Boston be a better choice than Denver, who hasn't had it since 1998, has a much bigger capacity, virtually-guaranteed good weather, and is centrally-located? From a non Boston-centric point of view?
I don't think the implication was that it was necessarily a better choice than Denver this year, but rather that we haven't heard of Boston in the mix for a while. Given that there are other cities that have gone longer without an ASG and capacity issues, I think there are some pretty valid answers to this.
 

Leather

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I don't think the implication was that it was necessarily a better choice than Denver this year, but rather that we haven't heard of Boston in the mix for a while. Given that there are other cities that have gone longer without an ASG and capacity issues, I think there are some pretty valid answers to this.
I agree with you. Another interesting note: Wrigley hasn't had it since 1990, so aesthetics and history don't seem to count for much. I think 1999 was really an outlier.

It seems that the ASG is chosen primarily as a bargaining chip to "reward" cities that agree to build new stadiums, and then doled out based on length-of-time since being held somewhere.
 

edoug

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Since 1999 when it was last in Boston, no other team has hosted more than once. New York is the only city to have it more than once in that span (Yankees/Mets).

Several teams/cities have gone longer than Boston has with no All-Star game:

Oakland 1987
Toronto 1991
Baltimore 1993
Arlington 1995
Philadelphia 1996
The only one of those that should've been considered is Baltimore. Philly is getting one in a few years. Who knows when there will be another baseball game in Toronto. Oakland's stadium is horrible. Arlington, screw 'em.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I agree with you. Another interesting note: Wrigley hasn't had it since 1990, so aesthetics and history don't seem to count for much. I think 1999 was really an outlier.

It seems that the ASG is chosen primarily as a bargaining chip to "reward" cities that agree to build new stadiums, and then doled out based on length-of-time since being held somewhere.
Wasn't 1999 in part supposed to be a kind of farewell to Fenway at the end of the century kind of thing? That was right about the same time Harrington and company started floating the new Fenway plan.

The only one of those that should've been considered is Baltimore. Philly is getting one in a few years. Who knows when there will be another baseball game in Toronto. Oakland's stadium is horrible. Arlington, screw 'em.
Arlington just got to host the World Series, in part on the back of being willing to allow spectators (as well as being a warm weather/dome in late October). Let's just call that their turn in the rotation.
 

bsj

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I don't think the implication was that it was necessarily a better choice than Denver this year, but rather that we haven't heard of Boston in the mix for a while. Given that there are other cities that have gone longer without an ASG and capacity issues, I think there are some pretty valid answers to this.
This. I didn't expect it in Boston this year for many reasons, I was curious though if there was a logistical reason why 1999 was an outlier. Good points re other cities going longer (I actually am shocked Denver was longer than us).
 

Ale Xander

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I'm all for an ASG in Arlington (Texas, July, fun) if it means Manfred would undergo the same experience as the Wicked Witch of the West in WoO.
 

edoug

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Wasn't 1999 in part supposed to be a kind of farewell to Fenway at the end of the century kind of thing? That was right about the same time Harrington and company started floating the new Fenway plan.



Arlington just got to host the World Series, in part on the back of being willing to allow spectators (as well as being a warm weather/dome in late October). Let's just call that their turn in the rotation.
Yeah, that's the last thing they get. Making Abbott or Cruz happy in any way would be sickening.
 

jaytftwofive

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i consider myself a "Progressive" person and though I didn't agree with Georgia's election laws I really think it was wrong to punish Atlanta. It wasn't the city of Atlanta it was the state of Georgia. And the Braves didn't do anything wrong so it's like punishing them. And they were going to honor and dedicate it to Hank Aaron, now we won't see that. I think it's cancel culture. I didn't vote for Trump either time but this is like saying we Major League Baseball support the Democrats agenda. I wish somehow we could keep politics out of sports. I bet Andrew Young who worked with MLK and served under Jimmy Carter and was Mayor of Atlanta is not happy about this decision.
 

santadevil

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i consider myself a "Progressive" person and though I didn't agree with Georgia's election laws I really think it was wrong to punish Atlanta. It wasn't the city of Atlanta it was the state of Georgia. And the Braves didn't do anything wrong so it's like punishing them. And they were going to honor and dedicate it to Hank Aaron, now we won't see that. I think it's cancel culture. I didn't vote for Trump either time but this is like saying we Major League Baseball support the Democrats agenda. I wish somehow we could keep politics out of sports. I bet Andrew Young who worked with MLK and served under Jimmy Carter and was Mayor of Atlanta is not happy about this decision.
On the other hand, this creates a dialogue for a lot of people that likely weren't aware of this change to the voting laws and brings it front and center.
I know I wasn't aware of it until I saw the news about the All-Star game being moved
 

PseuFighter

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I don't think capacity is really enough of a reason to exclude Fenway anymore. It made sense in probably the second half of the 20th century, but with pricing the way it is now, and the shift toward smaller ballparks, MLB makes the money back by charging whatever they want. No doubt the people will pay it. If capacity is below their sweet spot, they make it up in the cost. There's plenty of seating to meet the needs of season ticket holders and sponsors, just like they can do it for the World Series.

Also, like Super Bowls, MLB likes to award these to new stadiums.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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i consider myself a "Progressive" person and though I didn't agree with Georgia's election laws I really think it was wrong to punish Atlanta. It wasn't the city of Atlanta it was the state of Georgia. And the Braves didn't do anything wrong so it's like punishing them. And they were going to honor and dedicate it to Hank Aaron, now we won't see that. I think it's cancel culture. I didn't vote for Trump either time but this is like saying we Major League Baseball support the Democrats agenda. I wish somehow we could keep politics out of sports. I bet Andrew Young who worked with MLK and served under Jimmy Carter and was Mayor of Atlanta is not happy about this decision.
You should check with Andrew Young before you put words in his mouth. And with Keisha Bottoms and people on site, not folks hundreds of miles away who consider themselves to be "Progressive" people. Unless you're talking about Flo, in which case you might well know best.
 
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Leather

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This. I didn't expect it in Boston this year for many reasons, I was curious though if there was a logistical reason why 1999 was an outlier. Good points re other cities going longer (I actually am shocked Denver was longer than us).
I apologize for my tone in my initial response. I misread your underlying question and that was my bad.
 

AB in DC

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On the other hand, this creates a dialogue for a lot of people that likely weren't aware of this change to the voting laws and brings it front and center.
I know I wasn't aware of it until I saw the news about the All-Star game being moved
Worth pointing out that Stacey Abrams largely opposed the MLB move, so blaming this on "Democrats" is a bit far-fetched to me. .

That said, there's a huge difference between civil rights and a political "agenda". This isn't taxes, health care, foreign policy, infrastructure spending, etc. etc. It's way more fundamental than that.

Sorry for the digression.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Since 1999 when it was last in Boston, no other team has hosted more than once. New York is the only city to have it more than once in that span (Yankees/Mets).

Several teams/cities have gone longer than Boston has with no All-Star game:

Oakland 1987
Toronto 1991
Baltimore 1993
Arlington 1995
Philadelphia 1996
Tampa has also never hosted, although I think MLB likes to hold the ASG out as a potential reward to cities for building new ballparks, so it’s unlikely that Tampa or Oakland will get one until they solve their stadium woes.

Philly is getting it in 2026, apparently in connection with the US’s semiquincentennial. (And they were probably chosen over Boston because it’s been longer for them and they haven’t had one in Citizens Bank yet.)
 

AB in DC

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If Philly gets 2026 for the semiquincentennial then the Boston area should get 2025.

Though I'm a Lexington native, so I may be a bit biased here.
 

edoug

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Since it’s not mentioned in this thread, I think it’s worth adding that the pool of teams they could choose from was limited to teams that are away before the AS break, of which the Sox are not.
There's that but I'm not sure the need to do the all the activities that are now part of the All Star game experience.
 

cannonball 1729

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The only one of those that should've been considered is Baltimore. Philly is getting one in a few years. Who knows when there will be another baseball game in Toronto. Oakland's stadium is horrible. Arlington, screw 'em.
Oakland will probably get one if/when their new stadium gets built. I can't imagine they'd want to burn their chance now when they're expecting to have new digs later this decade.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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There's that but I'm not sure the need to do the all the activities that are now part of the All Star game experience.
I think it's less about the activiities (like the Futures game that is usually played on Sunday) and more about having time to prep the park. Putting up signs and banners, painting the logos, setting up the clubhouses, etc. Stuff that's a lot easier to do if they're not rushing to do it all between end of game Sunday and sometime Monday morning.
 

edoug

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Oakland will probably get one if/when their new stadium gets built. I can't imagine they'd want to burn their chance now when they're expecting to have new digs later this decade.
They are expecting a new ballpark to happen? Good for them.
I think it's less about the activiities (like the Futures game that is usually played on Sunday) and more about having time to prep the park. Putting up signs and banners, painting the logos, setting up the clubhouses, etc. Stuff that's a lot easier to do if they're not rushing to do it all between end of game Sunday and sometime Monday morning.
Definitely easier and it suppose to be a celebration and all that is part of it. It's kind of hard to get excited about.