The Cincinnati Reds will host the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Yahoo! Sports reports. Great American Ballpark will host its first ever midsummer classic, as the last all-star game in Cincinnati was in 1988. The Reds have hosted the all-star game four previous times. The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Bud Selig will make an official announcement on Wednesday to declare the host.
Considering the trend of the host teams incorporating their own histories into the festivities, it would not be a surprise to see past heroes such as Ken Griffey Senior, Ken Griffey Junior, Joe Morgan or even Pete Rose in the mix. David Brown of Yahoo! Pointed out that despite Rose's ban from working in baseball, he was allowed to visit during the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston for the presentation of the All-Century Team (which he was voted onto).
Will we see a tribute to any or all of the five previous Reds teams to win the World Series? The most recent of them (in 1990) happened since the last all-star game in Cincy. The championship club from that season had one of the best bullpens of all-time, says Buster Olney of ESPN. He has the 'pen ranked second. (ESPN Insider required to read article.)
The Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins were also vying for the right to host the game, with both teams boasting relatively new parks of their own. The Florida Marlins rebranded and moved into Marlins Park before the 2012 season. The Nationals opened their stadium, Nationals Park, in 2008.
Major League Baseball typically alternates having the All-Star Game hosted at American and National League parks, with the 2013 contest slated for Citi Field, the home of the NL's New York Mets. The Minnesota Twins' Target Field will be the site of the 2014 game.
The Reds may pay tribute to the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who are commonly known as the first fully professional baseball team. Though the Red Stockings and Reds aren't the same franchise, the Reds are the oldest team to have played in one city for its entire existence.
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