Dodger Stadium to host 2020 All-Star Game

The Dodgers will not go more than 40 years without hosting an All-Star Game. Commissioner Rob Manfred is to be at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday for a noon news conference to announce that the Dodgers will host the 2020 All-Star Game, the first time since 1980 that the team has hosted the mid-summer event.

“It’s been a long time, a long time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Tuesday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics. “So for Major League Baseball and the city of Los Angeles to come together and get it here in 2020, I think it’s a thrill not only for the Dodgers but for the great fans of Los Angeles.”

Roberts and several Dodgers all-stars, past and present, will join Manfred, Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten and Los Angeles City Council member Gilbert Cedillo at Wednesday’s news conference.

The last time the game was played in Los Angeles, the Dodgers placed four starters — Davey Lopes, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell and Reggie Smith — on a Chuck Tanner-managed National League team that beat an Earl Weaver-managed American League team, 4-2.

Ken Griffey Sr., whose two hits included a solo homer to center field against Tommy John in the fifth inning, was named the game’s most valuable player.

The Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs were among the leading candidates to host the 2020 event. The Washington Nationals will host the game this July, and the Cleveland Indians will host in 2019.

Since 1980, nine teams have hosted the game twice: the Angels (1989, 2010); San Francisco Giants (1984, 2007); San Diego Padres (1992, 2016); Indians (1981, 1997); Chicago White Sox (1983, 2003); Minnesota Twins (1985, 2014); Houston Astros (1986, 2004); Cincinnati Reds (1988, 2015); and Pittsburgh Pirates (1994, 2006).

The Los Angeles City Council, in a late-February move designed to help the Dodgers secure the game, authorized the city to receive $100,000 from the team as payment for city services required to host the game. The council motion cited an estimated $89.4 million in economic impact from hosting the game.

Staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this story.

UPDATES:

12:35 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details and background.

This article was originally posted at 12:20 p.m.