Camden Yards Is The Front Runner For The 2016 All-Star Game
The Sun — When baseball commissioner Bud Selig said recently that Baltimore was a “very, very viable candidate” to host the 2016 All-Star Game at Camden Yards, those who have sought for the Midsummer Classic’s return to the city for years received a boost to their hopes. Privately, the Orioles were encouraged by Selig’s characterization of their chances, and the organization would be thrilled to again showcase the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards, which will be in its 25th season in 2016 and remains the model for new ballparks. Selig, who is expected to retire in January 2015, said he would award the 2016 and 2017 games before leaving office. The commissioner selects the venue for each All-Star Game. “I have great feelings for Baltimore,” Selig said last week at the Civil Rights Game in Houston. “And I know they have [applied], and I just got done with the ’15 All-Star Game, and I know I have to do ’16 and ’17.” The Orioles’ primary American League rival for the game seems to be Toronto, which last hosted one at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in 1991. The one potential roadblock for Baltimore hosting in 2016 is that Washington, D.C., which hasn’t been an All-Star Game site since 1969 at RFK Stadium, also wants the baseball showcase as soon as possible at Nationals Park.
This is pretty much a no-brainer. It’s only the best ballpark on the planet. It oozes baseball. The only park mentioned in the same breath as OPACY is PNC Park, but that doesn’t even count because it’s in that landfill they call Pittsburgh. I don’t know what’s taking Bud Selig so long. 23 years is far too long for the ASG not to be in Baltimore. Say what you will about the rest of Baltimore, but downtown is too perfect for these types of events both inside and outside the park. So much room for activities. Eutaw Street, the pavilions out in center field, a great bar scene across the street, and the Inner Harbor less than a quarter mile away. Not to mention the opportunity for a killer Home Run Derby. Ken Griffey hit the warehouse in the 1993 Derby, a feat that hasn’t been matched since. Need to see some of today’s sluggers tee it up and take a shot at it in the worst way. Can’t get that in Toronto. I know you’ve been reading my blogs, Bud, now cut out the dilly dallying and just give us the damn thing.
PS: As much as I’m meh about Nats Park, it’d be pretty cool to have the ASG’s in the DMV back to back years. It’s an average ballpark, but Washington does deserve one in the near future.
