Major League Baseball announced on Friday that the 2020 All-Star Game, which was scheduled to be hosted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, is canceled. With the 2021 All-Star Game already awarded to the Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers were granted hosting duties for the next available Midsummer Classic in 2022.
The ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic forced a halt to MLB spring training in March and has since been the reason for a 2020 season postponement. As things stand, MLB intends to play an abbreviated 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Following weeks of contentious negotiations between the league and the MLB Players Association, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred installed a 60-game season that is set to launch on July 23. The 2020 All-Star Game was originally set to take place on July 14.
"Once it became clear we were unable to hold this year's All-Star festivities, we wanted to award the Dodgers with the next available All-Star Game, which is 2022," Manfred said in a statement Friday.
"I want to thank the Dodgers organization and the City of Los Angeles for being collaborative partners in the early stages of All-Star preparation and for being patient and understanding in navigating the uncertainty created by the pandemic. The 2022 All-Star celebration promises to be a memorable one with events throughout the city and at picturesque Dodger Stadium."
The Dodgers were announced as the 2020 All-Star Game hosts back in April of 2018. L.A. last played host to an All-Star Game in 1980. It will be just the second All-Star Game held at Dodger Stadium, and the fourth hosted by the Dodgers. The '59 game took place in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the '49 game was in Ebbets Field when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. Dodger Stadium -- which first opened in 1962 and is the National League's second-oldest ballpark -- made plans to undergo a $100 million renovation of its ballpark.
Venues for the 2023-25 All-Star Games have not yet been selected.
