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LOS ANGELES — It took four decades, but Dodger Stadium is finally getting another All-Star Game. Major League Baseball will announce on Wednesday that the Midsummer Classic will return to Los Angeles in 2020, ending the longest All-Star hosting drought in baseball.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, Dodgers president Stan Kasten and manager Dave Roberts, as well as LA City Councilmember Gil Cedillo will be present at a press conference at Dodger Stadium at noon on Wednesday. Also present per the team will be “Dodger All-Stars, past and present.”
The news was first reported by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and Bill Shaikin and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
The last time the Dodgers hosted an All-Star Game was in 1980, which marked the debut of Diamond Vision, the first-of-its-kind video scoreboard in left field at Dodger Stadium.
Longest All-Star droughts
| Team | Last All-Star Game |
|---|---|
| Team | Last All-Star Game |
| Rays | never |
| Dodgers | 1980 |
| A's | 1987 |
| Cubs | 1990 |
| Blue Jays | 1991 |
| Orioles | 1993 |
| Rangers | 1995 |
| Phillies | 1996 |
| Rockies | 1998 |
| Red Sox | 1999 |
“It’s been a long time,” Roberts said. “It’s a thrill for not only the Dodgers but also the great fanbase in Los Angeles.”
In the prolonged interim between All-Star Games in Los Angeles nine different teams — Indians, White Sox, Giants, Twins, Astros, Reds, Angels, Padres and Pirates — have hosted the game at least twice. Cleveland in 2019 will host for a third time since the last game at Dodger Stadium.
The only other major league team that has to go back to the 1980s for its last All-Star Game is the Oakland A’s, who last hosted in 1987. The Rays, who began play in 1998, are the only team to have never hosted.
Momentum for this game coming to Dodger Stadium grew on Feb. 28, when the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion authorizing the city to negotiate a contract with the Dodgers and a payment of $100,000 to account for the use of city services an resources connected with hosting the 2020 game.
“It’s important for us in terms of marketing the game to be in major markets,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in Arizona on Feb. 20.
The Nationals will host the 2018 All-Star Game in Washington D.C., scheduled for Tuesday, July 17.
2020 will be the fourth All-Star Game hosted by the Dodgers, including 1949 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, 1959 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and 1980 at Dodger Stadium.