The Cleveland Indians Should Host the Next All-Star Game

Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Balloons flood the sky over a statue of former Cleveland Indians player Jim Thome as the gates open for the home opener between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati is done and gone, as the American League defeated the National League 6-3 on Tuesday night.  It’s now time to look towards the future of the All-Star Game and who should host future games.  So who should host the next All-Star Game?  The Cleveland Indians.

Many will think this is strictly homerism on my part, and also a bit odd since baseball has already announced the next All-Star game host, but that doesn’t change my opinion that the Cleveland Indians are the most deserving team and city to host the All-Star game.  Here we’ll look at reasons why Cleveland deserves the game, why other teams and cities aren’t as deserving, and what I think of the recent selection process.

Next: Why the Cleveland Indians Deserve the All-Star Game

Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The newly designed right field and bull pen area before the game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Why the Cleveland Indians Deserve the All-Star Game

The last time the Cleveland Indians hosted the Midsummer Classic was back in 1997.  Progressive Field, then known as Jacob’s Field, was one of the premier parks in the game having opened in 1994.  The first of the “retro-modern” ballpark in baseball, taking many aspects of Camden Yards, baseball’s first “retro” ballpark (now called a “retro-classic” park).  To this day publications still rank Progressive Field as one of the ten best ballparks in baseball.  Needless to say, the 20 year old park has held up well.  But is that enough to get another All-Star game? No, but how about some renovations?

During the 2014 season, the Cleveland Indians announced that they’d be making major renovations to Progressive Field.  Among the plans was to redo the outfield bullpens, remove the third deck seats in right field, and adding a two story bar in the right field corner.  In 2015, fans were greeted with these great new additions.  Sure the capacity has dropped quite a bit (down to 38,000 from ~43,000), but ask any fan that’s experienced the new bar or kids playground and you’d be hard pressed to find any complaints.  Are these new renovations and upgrades to the park worthy of an All-Star game nod?  Well it worked in Kansas City and Los Angeles.

The Royals got the 2012 All-Star game after Kaufmann Stadium underwent a major renovation ($250 million) that was completed in 2009.  The stadium wasn’t “new” but it looks great and the sixth oldest stadium in baseball was worthy of another All-Star Game.  The Angels received the 2007 All-Star game despite having the fourth oldest ballpark in baseball thanks in part to the renovations made in the late 1990s after the Los Angeles Rams left town.  Cleveland’s renovations, which will soon include a Larry Doby Statue, should be more than enough to push them to the top of a list for potential All-Star hosts.

Next: Is There a More Deserving American League City?

Apr 29, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (31) pitches during the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Fans are not allowed to attend the game due to the current state of unrest in Baltimore. Baltimore Orioles defeated Chicago White Sox 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Is There a More Deserving American League City?

Another thing going in the Tribe’s favor is the fact that the American League doesn’t have many parks left that haven’t hosted a game.  In fact, the only two ballparks in the American League that haven’t hosted an All-Star game are Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) and New Yankee Stadium in New York.  Tropicana Field and the Rays are a hot topic these days, but not for hosting an All-Star game. The Rays want out of the stadium and St. Petersburg but politics and a stadium lease among other things are preventing anything here.  Needless to say, Major League Baseball doesn’t seem too interested in anything to do with Tropicana Field, so hoping for an All-Star game there any time soon is probably a waste of time.

New Yankee Stadium definitely is deserving of an All-Star game. Doesn’t hurt that getting a game in a big market is good for business. However, the Yankees just hosted the 2008 All-Star Game, would MLB really give them another one within a decade?  I wouldn’t rule it out since it is New York but they may have to wait a while.  So who does that leave other than Cleveland to host the next All-Star game in the AL?

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Well Baltimore is the first team that comes to mind.  Camden Yards is still one of the best parks in baseball and as mentioned before is the park that started the recent retro trend of ballparks. They also have gone even longer than Cleveland without the game, last hosting back in 1993.  However, Baltimore and Major League Baseball are also butting heads over television rights with the Washington Nationals. This is stemming from a decision under Bud Selig that was a compromise to allowing the Montreal Expos to move to Washington (Orioles fought the move for years if you recall).  Needless to say, baseball doesn’t seem too inclined to do the Orioles any favors at the moment, so they are likely out the outside looking in.

Toronto hasn’t hosted an All-Star game since 1990.  Back then SkyDome was a modern marvel with baseball’s first retractable roof stadium.  However, now it remains one of just two parks to have Astroturf instead of a natural grass playing field.  This likely won’t rule out the Blue Jays but given all the new retractable roof stadiums in baseball that do have natural grass (Milwaukee, Arizona, Seattle, Houston), it’s not the type of stadium that baseball is likely looking to promote.

The Rangers have gone slightly longer than the Indians since they last hosted the All-Star game. Their stadium opened in 1994, same as Progressive Field, but they got the 1995 All-Star game.  One could argue Texas should get it since it’s been longer but their stadium, while not bad, hasn’t seen the kind of update Progressive Field has.

The only other American League team that’s gone longer at the moment is the Oakland Athletics. They haven’t hosted the game since 1987.  However, like Tampa Bay they are locked in a battle with the city of Oakland (and San Jose) over their current stadium. Baseball has been working to try and get the A’s out of Oakland and into San Jose but to no avail. It’d be a shock if baseball would decide to give the A’s and the city of Oakland the All-Star game until they get that situation sorted out.

So at the end of the day, the best choice for the next All-Star game host is the city of Cleveland and the Indians franchise.  It’s been nearly 20 years, they have a newly renovated park.

Next: But MLB Has Already Announced the Next All-Star Host

May 7, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred speaks at a press conference before the game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Changes to All-Star Game Host Selection Coming

Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball did warn us back in February that the selection process for the MLB All-Star game will change.  Baseball wants the selection process to be more like the Super Bowl, where cities bid to host the game.

“One of the things that I am going to try to do with All-Star Games is — and we’ll make some announcements in the relatively short-term — I am looking to be in more of a competitive-bidding, Super Bowl-awarding-type mode, as opposed to [saying], `You know, I think Chicago is a good idea.'”

While some may not think this is a big deal, this quite the bombshell for me.  The All-Star game is about the fans of baseball. It’s why fans get to vote for the starters.  How is it going to be good for the fans if the game simply goes to the team that bids the highest?  Sure it will be great for fans in places like Chicago, New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, places that baseball is sure to want to see the game more than say Kansas City, Cleveland, Milwaukee, or Baltimore.

Perhaps though it won’t simply be about finances with the bids. Perhaps teams can show off their cities and new or improved stadiums as to why they deserve the game as well.  Maybe I’m naïve, but Cleveland could actually do well here.  As mentioned before, they have plenty of new ballpark improvements to show off, which could (maybe) be enticing to host an All-Star game.  There’s also the matter of the city of Cleveland.  The butt of many jokes, the city of Cleveland actually has some nice things going for it now.  They will be hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention next summer.  Efforts have been made to fix up the downtown in preparation for it.  Cleveland is still no Chicago or New York, but if baseball keeps an open mind then perhaps Cleveland still has a shot at hosting an All-Star game this decade.

Next: Should It Matter Which League Hosts the Game?

Oct 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants players celebrate on the field after defeating the Kansas City Royals during game seven of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Should It Matter Which League Hosts the Game?

At the end of the day, does the host team really matter in an All-Star game?  One could easily argue that switching the game back and forth between leagues is irrelevant.  Baseball has changed the All-Star game rules so now the designated hitter is used no matter which league hosts the game. The American League also has had so much success of late that one could argue having “home-field” in this game doesn’t really matter much.

That said, I still believe that if you want the game to “matter” and decide home-field in the World Series that each league should get an equal shot at hosting the game.  You can’t sell fans on the idea that hosting Game 7 of the World Series and having last at-bats is important while at the same time seemingly belittling how important it is to have home-field and last at-bats in the game that decides such an “important” reward.  If baseball really wants to move away from alternating leagues here, they should take my advice and stop making the game decide home-field advantage. 

Next: Will Cleveland Host the Next All-Star Game?

Even Slider feels the Indians should host the All-Star Game. Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Will Cleveland Host the Next All-Star Game?

Obviously the answer here is no, since we know that San Diego has the 2016 All-Star game followed by Miami and Washington in 2017 and 2018, respectively.  But could the Indians host the 2019 All-Star game?  Given the new path baseball seems to be going down in regards to the selection process I wouldn’t hold my breath on Cleveland getting it, but maybe they keep an open mind and surprise us.  The Indians are definitely deserve to host the game given the ballpark upgrades and the revitalization of the city itself.

Make no mistake, the Cleveland Indians should host the next MLB All-Star Game.

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