This year was taking shape to be a big one for the Los Angeles Dodgers as not only were they entering the regular season with a roster talented enough to win the World Series, but they also were set to host the 2020 MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1980.
Unfortunately, the season was put to a halt before it could even begin due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. After more than three months off, MLB is finally set to return with players reporting for Spring Training 2.0 on July 1 and Opening Day scheduled for July 23.
With the postseason still scheduled to begin as usual in early October, MLB will only have time to play 60 games over a 66-day span for the regular season. That doesn’t leave much time for the All-Star Game and its traditional week-long festivities.
Because of that, the expectation is that it will be cancelled altogether and the Dodgers will host the Midsummer Classic, perhaps in 2022, after the Atlanta Braves have the game in 2021.
“We’re still awaiting definitive word from Major League Baseball,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “I think once we get the schedule for this year, I think there will be a lot of clarity on that. I don’t really know at this point. It’s something that we’re still waiting for word from MLB.”
As awesome as it would have been for Dodger Stadium to welcome players and media from across the league for All-Star festivities, especially with the stadium’s new renovations, it simply doesn’t make sense to do it this year when no fans would be in attendance.
As unfortunate as it is, pushing the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium back to a later year makes all of the sense in the world so the focus this year can remain on completing the season with everyone remaining healthy.
Whenever the Dodgers are able to host the festivities, it will likely be one of the better All-Star Games in MLB history.
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