After moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta due to concerns over a new Georgia voting law, Major League Baseball announced Coors Field will be the site of the Midsummer Classic this year.
The Colorado Rockies previously hosted the 1998 All-Star Game and already were in the bidding process to secure another one. The team outlined a detailed plan for hotel, event space and security, and MLB staff had already made several visits to Denver, which were factors for this year.
Other teams were considered to host the 2021 All-Star Game as well. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, were not among them, as they are scheduled to host next year’s Midsummer Classic as a makeup for the 2020 event being cancelled due the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
With the Dodgers previously being awarded the 2022 All-Star Game, MLB reportedly did not consider the other four California teams either as they wanted to avoid the Midsummer Classic taking place in the same state back-to-back years, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
Neither the Dodgers nor any of the other four California teams were seriously considered as a replacement host for this year, since Major League Baseball was wary of playing the game in the state in consecutive years.
For the L.A. Angels, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants, they presumably will have to wait until 2024 for an opportunity to host the All-Star Game, assuming 2023 is off the table since the Dodgers are hosting the previous year’s event.
As for the 2021 Midsummer Classic, it is reasonable to expect lots of offense. When the Rockies previously hosted in 1998, the American League won 13-8 in what still stands to this day the highest-scoring All-Star Game.
That year’s Home Run Derby field comprised of Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Vinny Castilla, Rafael Palmeiro, Moises Alou, Javy Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Damion Easley and Chipper Jones.
Roberts supports MLB’s decision to move 2021 All-Star Game out of Georgia
The decision to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia was mostly met with praise. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is among those in favor of the call.
“I support it. Obviously, I’m not completely versed on everything, but I do understand — and my takeaway from the bill – was essentially to suppress voting for people of color,” he recently said.
“With that, that’s something I fundamentally, intrinsically disagree with. For the commissioner to kind of do his due diligence in baseball, outside of baseball, with players, front office, and ultimately make a decision to remove the All-Star Game and Draft out of the state of Georgia, I support.
“I also applaud the fact we’re still planning on committing the dollars to the communities in the greater Atlanta area, which I think is great. Because I think the fans are the ones that unfortunately are losing out.”
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