Seattle to host 2023 MLB ASG

When the Seattle Mariners started down the path of bidding for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the target was 2024 or later to host for a third time.

When MLB came back to the club earlier this year asking if 2023 was a possibility, the Mariners quickly kicked into gear.

“I think with some of the shuffling that went on, (2023) became the more viable alternative,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday. “And I have to say, the Mariners did a fantastic job in terms of the uptempo, the preparation. It takes a lot to pull off an All-Star Game, a lot of preparation and planning and (Mariners Chairman) John (Stanton) and his people did a fantastic job getting ready sooner.”

Seattle was formally unveiled as the host of the 2023 midsummer classic Thursday, making the announcement inside the Space Needle with Hall of Famers

Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez looking on.

Seattle’s first AllStar Game was in 1979 at the Kingdome, and it hosted again 22 years later in 2001 at Safeco Field.

Twenty-two years later, the game will be back at what’s now TMobile Park.

Seattle’s turn as host will make for three straight years when the game is played in the Western half of the country. This year’s AllStar Game was moved to Denver from Atlanta in April after Manfred made the decision to relocate the game because of a Georgia voting law that critics say will negatively affect communities of color. His decision generally was denounced by conservatives and praised by liberals.

The 2022 game will be held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It was originally scheduled to be there in 2020 before being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.