It’s Official: Colorado to Host the MLB All-Star Game

MLB All-Star Game is a professional baseball game that was inaugurated in 1993. The game is played between the all-stars from National League(NL) and American League(AL). This MLB game usually marks the halfway point of the MLB season, hence why it’s often referred to as the ‘Midsummer Classic’. The game takes place on the second and third Tuesdays of July every year. 

It has been officially announced that in 2021, Major League Baseball will take place in Denver in the Coors Field. The last time Coors Field hosted the game was in 1998. 

An Overview of the Coors Field, Denver 

Denver has one of the most amazing baseball parks located in Downtown, Colorado which is named the Coors Field. It has an overall capacity of 50,144 and is considered the most picturesque baseball park thanks to its view of the rocky mountains.

Coors Field also has a reputation for being a hitter’s park. This is due to the semi-arid climate and being 5,200 feet above sea level. In fact, the park was specifically built at this location because the elevation meant the air was thinner, which can increase the chance of running a home run up to 50%. That’s why Coors Field is known as a hitter’s paradise. 

Apart from this, it offers a wide variety of amenities including the Diamond Dry Good gift shop, Coors Field’s microbrewery (which is situated at the right-field entrance), 4,400 club seats, the Rockies merchandise store, the Rounders at Sandlot Brewery, and the Ranch Club – which offers fine dining on six tiers. 

Where will MLB All-Star Game 2021 take place? 

A meeting took place on April 2 2021 and decided that the MLB All-Star Game, which was meant to be played at Truist Park in Cumberland, will be moved to the Coors Field at Denver due to protests regarding a newly implemented law in Georgia. This new law has many concerned about voting rights as it restricts access to ballot boxes. 

Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republic Governor, released a statement saying that the MLB “caved to fear, political opportunism, and liberal lies”. However, Rob Manford, the league commissioner, said the move was made to “demonstrate our values as a sport”. This shows that the MLB was concerned that allowing the game to go ahead at Truist Park would be taken as a sign of support for this new law, which is not the case, so that is why they decided to change the location. 

Voting rights is something that MLB takes very seriously shown by the fact that the league recently joined the non-partisan group called Civic Alliance. Civic Alliance believes that everyone has the right to shape the future of the US and that an active voting population is good for business. The MLB is the first professional sports league to join this group. The MLB has also committed to an initiative called Time to Vote. This initiative aims to inform employees about the voting process and the various voting options available. As a result, it’s hardly surprising that the MLB chose to change the location of the game as allowing the game to go ahead at Truist Park would go against their deeply-held values.

It was agreed that the Rockies should be chosen as the replacement for the MLB game as “they were already in the bidding process to host a future All-Star Game”. This means they already had a lot of the plans in place for hosting the game. For instance, they had detailed security plans and had also looked into how they would accommodate all the attending fans in local hotels. Also, Mayor Michael Hancock and Governor Jared Polis had promised to support this year’s game by providing all the essential services and facilities to the players. MLB has shown much gratitude for the immense support and cooperation that the State of Colorado has offered for the ‘Midsummer Classic’. 

Voting Policies in Colorado 

Denver is also a good choice as Colorado has expansive voting laws. For instance, Colorado allows citizens to register on the day of the election. It also has some of the highest voter turnouts in the US. In 2020 alone, about 85% of the population in Colorado voted. It makes perfect sense for the MLB to choose Colorado as it is a state that endorses its beliefs and values. 

The All-Star Selection Process

Now the location has been settled all that’s left to decide is who will play. 

The selection process is quite complicated as each position has a different process. But we’ve broken it down to make it more simple. 

The first step of the process is where the fans vote in the Starters Election and vote for their favorite player. This happens for both the American League and the National League. This only fills some of the spots available. 

The second step is where coaches, managers, players, and the commissioner’s office decide who will be the pitchers and who will be on the reserves. 

In the third step, the managers (with help from fellow managers in their league) fill the rest of the spaces available so that they fill the roster and have 33 players.

The fourth and final step involves another vote. The public selects a single player from a roster of five, which has been put together by the managers and commissioner’s office. 

This way the MLB can ensure it is truly a star-studded game and the public also get the chance to bet on and root for their favorite player.