Report: All-Star Game moving to Denver
Coors Field in Denver has been chosen to host this year’s All-Star Game, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney on Monday.
MLB opted to move the game out of Atlanta due to voting laws passed in Georgia last month.
It will mark the second time the homer-friendly home of the Colorado Rockies will host the Midsummer Classic. The American League beat the National League 13-8 at Coors in 1998.
This year’s All-Star Game originally was scheduled for July 13 at Truist Park, home of the Braves. However, on April 2, MLB announced that it decided to move the game out of Atlanta due to a new Georgia law that has civil rights groups concerned about its potential to restrict voting access for people of color.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement at the time that he discussed the potential move with individual major leaguers and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd last year, before ultimately deciding to make the call “as the
best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a sweeping, Republican-sponsored bill that includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run.
COVID-19 HIT NATIONALS SET TOPLAYBRAVES>> The Washington Nationals held a “fullteam workout” held at their stadium Monday afternoon, though it hardly involved the full team. A coronavirus outbreak
has sidelined 11 players — four of whom tested positive for COVID-19 — and delayed Washington’s first game that counts until Tuesday.
“Just anxious to finally get our season going,” said Max Scherzer, slated to face the visiting Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
The Nationals haven’t announced who is in isolation because of test results or which additional seven players are under quarantine because contact tracing determined they could have been exposed to the illness.
RANGERS OPEN WITH LARGE CROWD >> Susanna Frare said her family decided to take a “calculated risk” attending the home opener of the Texas Rangers, the first major U.S. pro sports event to approach capacity in a stadium since the coronavirus shutdown more than a year ago.
All tickets at 40,518-seat Globe Life Field were for sale, and the retractable-roof stadium was about three-fourths full at first pitch against Toronto. The roof was open. Toronto beat the Rangers 6-2.
The Rangers gained national attention with their announcement last month to make all tickets available for the home opener, drawing criticism from President Joe Biden that it was a “mistake” and “not responsible.”
TEXAS GOVERNOR REFUSES TO THROW OUT FIRST BALL >> Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday afternoon that he would not be throwing out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener, as had been scheduled, because of Major League Baseball’s response to voting laws recently passed in Georgia.