On Monday morning new MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred met with Dodgers players, the Dodgers brass and with the media. And while the meetings reportedly covered a wide variety of topics, the one that is of special interest to Dodger fans is Manfred’s claim that an MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium will likely take place in the “near future.”

Now before you hit StubHub up for tickets for the first All-Star Game to be held at Dodger Stadium in 35 years, consider this: The 2015 ASG is already set for Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, the 2016 ASG at San Diego’s Petco Park, and the 2017 ASG at Miami’s Marlins Park – all three National League Parks. This would certainly suggest that the 2018 ASG will be held at an American League park. And as ESPNLA’s Mark Saxon points out, Nationals Park in Washington DC (yet another NL park) will probably host a Summer Classic before Dodger Stadium will.

“I’ve had some preliminary conversations with Stan Kasten about an All-Star Game in LA,” Manfred told reporters. “I’m aware of what the facts in terms of how long it’s been since there has been a game [at Dodger Stadium]. Obviously, a market like LA, you can’t ask for a better showcase for the game, so more to follow on that one.”

Many Dodgers fans weren’t even born when the last (and only) All-Star Game was held at Dodger Stadium.
(Photo credit – Jerry Reuss)

Shortly after taking over for retiring MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, Manfred said that he favors a bidding process for teams interested in hosting the All-Star Game rather than selecting teams at random simply because they have a new ballpark. With Dodger Stadium being the third oldest ballpark in the MLB, this came as very good news for Dodger fans – not to mention the fact that Kasten and the rest of the Dodgers owners have spent upwards of $200 million in renovations to the now 53-year-old ballpark over the past three off-seasons.

“We are in a situation where we have multiple teams interested in having All-Star Games in given years,” Manfred said. “We think we can put a process together that makes sure we get the city that’s going to be the best host for the game.”

It’s certainly hard to argue that Los Angeles isn’t among the best potential host cities for the All-Star Game being that it boasts the second largest market in the MLB behind only New York. And with the LA Convention Center being less than four miles away, Dodger Stadium is the perfect venue for the All-Star Game. But then, Dodger fans have known this for decades. All they had to do was ask.