The Pitch guide to All-Star Week
The best way to lure Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game to your city is to have more than one team. Thanks to the Yankees, the Mets and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Summer Classic has landed in New York City eight times in its long history. (And it returns there next year for a first visit to Citi Field, 49 years after the Mets last hosted.)
The second-best way is to build a new stadium. (See Citi, which opened in 2009.) In April 1973, after several years of frustration (bye, A’s; hello, expansion teams) and construction, Royals Stadium opened. It was an innovative, impressive ballpark, and it almost immediately lived up to one of the missions of its design: Blow minds at the All-Star Game. Back then, the house that Ewing Kauffman built looked like the future of fan comfort.
Well, the future is back, because the third-best way to turn America’s head for one hot July night is to renovate your stadium. That’s what the Royals started doing five years ago, in an effort that has paid numerous dividends to local fans the past few seasons. It also has led to the first KC All-Star Game since Richard Nixon was president.
That’s cause for celebration. This special supplement marks the occasion with a look back at our city’s All-Star history, including a reminder that there’s treasure in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Of course, there are also event listings for the something-for-every-fan days leading up to the big game. If you’ve come from out of town, you’re now in one of baseball’s true legacy markets. And if you’re a native, put this away as a souvenir for next time, in case it takes another 39 years for MLB to bring back All-Star Week.
Click on the following articles for more All-Star:
Kansas City Royals Historian Curt Nelson delivers an All-Star lesson.
Five Must-See Gems at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
This Week in Baseball: Five days of stars – baseball and otherwise
