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Brewers: 3 Reasons Milwaukee Should Now Host The 2021 All Star Game

By David Gasper |
Flowers and mementos are laid at a makeshift memorial in front of the Henry Aaron statue at American Family Field Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 in Milwaukee. Aaron, who began and ended his big-league career in Milwaukee and was known as "Hammerin' Hank" for his successful pursuit of Babe Ruth's cherished home run record, died early Jan. 22, 2021 in his sleep at age 86.Aaron Statue 06338
Flowers and mementos are laid at a makeshift memorial in front of the Henry Aaron statue at American Family Field Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 in Milwaukee. Aaron, who began and ended his big-league career in Milwaukee and was known as "Hammerin' Hank" for his successful pursuit of Babe Ruth's cherished home run record, died early Jan. 22, 2021 in his sleep at age 86.Aaron Statue 06338
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Flowers and mementos are laid at a makeshift memorial in front of the Henry Aaron statue at American Family Field Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 in Milwaukee. Aaron, who began and ended his big-league career in Milwaukee and was known as “Hammerin’ Hank” for his successful pursuit of Babe Ruth’s cherished home run record, died early Jan. 22, 2021 in his sleep at age 86.Aaron Statue 06338
Flowers and mementos are laid at a makeshift memorial in front of the Henry Aaron statue at American Family Field Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 in Milwaukee. Aaron, who began and ended his big-league career in Milwaukee and was known as “Hammerin’ Hank” for his successful pursuit of Babe Ruth’s cherished home run record, died early Jan. 22, 2021 in his sleep at age 86.Aaron Statue 06338 /

MLB has made the decision to move the 2021 All Star Game from its originally scheduled home of Atlanta, Georgia due to reasons we will not get into in this article. Now that the All Star Game and it’s related festivities need a new city on short notice in 2021, the Milwaukee Brewers and American Family Field would be a great host.

The plan for the All Star Game festivities in 2021 was a bold one that MLB has not done before. Not only is there an All-Star Game and a Home Run Derby, there has traditionally been a Futures Game with top prospects from around the minor leagues, and a celebrity softball game. But the one big addition this year was the MLB Draft was going to be during All Star Week.

In previous years, the MLB Draft has been held in Secaucus, New Jersey at MLB Network’s studios. In 2020, it was planned to be in Omaha ahead of the 2020 College World Series. When that got cancelled, the plans for 2021 included moving the draft back a month and including it as a part of All Star festivities. So, this is a monster week for MLB and it needs to be held in a city where all of these events can happen.

Enter Milwaukee.

There are quite a few reasons why MLB should choose the Milwaukee Brewers and American Family Field as the host of the 2021 All Star Game.

Reason #1: Hank Aaron

In MLB’s statement explaining their decision to move the All Star Game from Atlanta, a city where Hank Aaron played nine seasons of his storied career, they said “we will continue with our plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities.”

The only other city Aaron played in during his career was Milwaukee, where he played 14 seasons, even more time than he spent in Atlanta.

Hank Aaron loved Milwaukee, and spoke positively of it often. This was a home to him.

Outside of American Family Field, in the parking lot, there is the location of Aaron’s 755th and final home run, marked in the concrete. The Brewers have a statue outside of the ballpark for Hank, and his number hangs in the rafters.

If MLB plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron, and they won’t be in Atlanta to do it, the next best place is clearly Milwaukee. Doing that kind of tribute in a city like Chicago or New York, or Dallas just wouldn’t carry the same kind of weight that it would here.

Hank Aaron should be reason enough alone for MLB to move the All Star Game to Milwaukee, but there are a few other reasons as well.

The opening day logo is displayed on American Family Field on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Brewers open their 2021 season at 1:10 p.m. Thursday against the Minnesota Twins.MJS-brewcol01p1
The opening day logo is displayed on American Family Field on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Brewers open their 2021 season at 1:10 p.m. Thursday against the Minnesota Twins.MJS-brewcol01p1 /

Reason #2: City Support And Vaccination

Shortly after the announcement that MLB would move the All Star Game, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett formally asked MLB to consider Milwaukee and he pledged this office’s full support for whatever events and festivities they needed.

That’s a key step.

To pull off such a task in a very short amount of time to schedule, plan, and execute a bigger All Star Week than MLB has ever attempted before, they would need some help from local government to get the facilities, traffic patterns, infrastructure, etc. needed. The mayor is already in support of the effort, so put a check mark next to that box.

A venue such as the Wisconsin Center could hold a bunch of the non-baseball facilities, including the MLB Draft. With plenty of parking structures nearby and plenty of hotels to house the influx of guests to the city, there shouldn’t be any concern about the city’s ability to handle the load.

Another positive step is the high vaccination rates in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the leading state in the country when it comes to using their vaccine supply and every person aged 16 and up is now going to be eligible to receive it. By the time we get to July, when the All Star Game is, things should be back to 100% capacity.

That will also be key for MLB as they’re also going to want to make as much money as possible this year. They lost the All Star Game and a bunch of money last year and they won’t want limited capacity seating for the big week. Right now, American Family Field is at 25% capacity, but that’s just for the first month. That could jump up quickly if the vaccination rates are any indication.

With the city’s full support, they will likely approve 100% capacity at all these events by the time it comes to July and they’ll have plenty of reason to. Getting the maximum capacity, and therefore maximum earning potential, is going to be a big deal for MLB.

A bicyclist heads toward American Family Field before the Milwaukee Brewers’ home opener.Brewers Fans
A bicyclist heads toward American Family Field before the Milwaukee Brewers’ home opener.Brewers Fans /

Reason 3: Milwaukee deserves a mulligan

The last time the Milwaukee Brewers hosted the All Star Game, things were going great until everybody ran out of pitchers. Then there’s the famous video of Bud Selig throwing up his hands and not knowing what to do, and the game ultimately ending in a 7-7 tie.

That game also led to the rule change that the league that won the ASG would get home field advantage in the World Series. A rule that has since been changed, thankfully.

Milwaukee deserves another shot. The Milwaukee Brewers deserve to host an All Star Game that, hopefully, won’t end in a tie this time. With a new sponsor of the park and a lot of new things to show off, including the LED lights, Bernie’s new chalet, and Miller Lite Landing, a lot has changed since the last time all of MLB had their eyes here in 2002.

Sure, it’s only been 19 years since the last one, and normally teams have to wait a little longer to host, but Milwaukee should get another shot a little earlier after how the last one went. What happened in 2002 was an embarrassment.

This would also give the Brewers a chance to highlight their team and the exciting players in Milwaukee. Christian Yelich could play in an All Star Game in his own ballpark, and there are several other exciting young players who could earn an All-Star nod, including Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams, Keston Hiura, and more.

Next. What It Means For Fans To Be Back In The Ballpark. dark

If MLB is going to move all these festivities out of Atlanta, Milwaukee is the next best place to put them. The Brewers would make great hosts.

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