Good morning, Uni Watchers. It’s Friday — we made it!
It’s been a very quiet week on the uniform front, so my apologies to you guys if this week’s content hasn’t been quite up to snuff. But with the Memorial Day holiday weekend right around the corner, this isn’t generally a big week for uniform news. Once things begin to settle down with my personal affairs in the wake of my mom’s passing, I should have more time to create more content for times when things are slow.
I fully plan to being some series your way with regard to uniform histories, which would be similar to the “What’s Your Sign(ature)” series I had done several years ago and which long-time readers will remember. I also want to do a separate series on ballparks — past, present and future — and I’ll probably be able to begin some of those soon. Again, my apologies that I haven’t been able to bring you the top-level content which UW has usually been able to deliver every day.
This Monday is “Founders Day,” named for the anniversary of the day Paul published his very first column in the Village Voice, marking the beginning of Uni Watch as we know it. And one year ago Monday, after one hell of a ride, Paul stepped down as editor of Uni Watch, handing the reins over to me. Hard to believe it’s been a year already. I want to thank everyone for their support before, during and since.
Now then.
Yesterday, according to a report from Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field will be named host of the 2027 MLB All-Star Game. If confirmed, it would mark the first All-Star game hosted by the North Siders since 1990.
Levine said the news is expected to be official sometime later this summer, although according to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs are saying “no decision has been made.” But that’s different than saying the Cubs won’t play host to the game, simply that they won’t — or can’t — confirm it.
Clarifying the breaking news-The All Star game will be awarded to the Cubs sometime this https://t.co/4rlC9N4wEv wants each city to have 2 years planning for the event.Home Run derby and FanFest etc. source told me Chicago (city) will get a windfall of $250 to $300 in revenue.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) May 22, 2025
One assumes Levine meant to add “million” to those dollar figures.
Wrigley Field last hosted an All-Star Game on July 10, 1990, with the American League winning 2-0. Prior to the 1990 game, Wrigley Field hosted two other All-Star Games — the first in 1947, and a second in 1962.
That may seem like a lot of time between hosting duties, but only the Yankees (with four ASGs held at the original Yankee Stadium) and also Cleveland (also four, in their Municipal Stadium) have hosted more often in a single building.
Security concerns had been the main reason for the long absence of All-Star Games at Wrigley Field, as officials feared a possible attack on the park. Levine reports these worries diminished after the Cubs worked with the city of Chicago to place concrete bollards outside the stadium.
In addition, according to The Score, “An ordinance was introduced Wednesday at a city council meeting to install bollards at a cost of more than $30 million that will be split by the state, the city and the Cubs, according to the Sun-Times. The agreement to install bollards, small posts that can stop dangerous traffic, was the final hurdle to the Cubs hosting the All-Star Game, sources told Levine.”
Wrigley Field’s first All-Star Game in 37 years will be the first Midsummer Classic in Chicago in 24 years, since the 2003 event at (then) U. S. Cellular Field new Comiskey. The 2025 MLB All-Star Game will be in Atlanta, and the 2026 event Philadelphia, which will coincide with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
I’m sure some of you have attended All-Star games — if not baseball than perhaps for another sport. If you have, did you think it was worth it and if you had the chance to do so again, would you? If not the game itself, did you perhaps go to one of the other ASG events (HR derby, 3-point contest, Skills Competition, etc)? If you haven’t attended any ASGs, do you have any future plans to do so?
Did any of you attend any MLB ASG’s recently? I imagine the security must be ridiculous.
Finally, did any of you attend the 1990 game in Wrigley? If so, what are your memories of that game?
The MLB All-Star game has always been my favorite ASG, and with the exception of 2011 when my pop passed away, I have watched every game since the 1970s. I’m pumped the game will be returning to the Friendly Confines. How about you?
Actually up early enough for guess the scoreboard – it was a Monday in September after Jose Fernandez died crashing his boat Caught Looking in middle of the night.
All the Miami players wore 16 and leadoff batter hit a home run.
Guess the game? Vikings in Divisional playoff the one year Cardinals actually got in – 1974? See Roger Wherli in background.
Kurt and John B. are correct.
Dave Osborne was the key for me. The next time these teams met at the Met, he had retired.
Still think Bartolo grooved one to Dee Gordon leading off that game. Would have been a very Bartolo thing to do.
GTGFTU: Dec 21, 1974, NFC Divisional playoff at The Met, Vikings 30, Cards 14
I forgot how tiny the Cardinals’ uni numbers were back in the day.
They sure were.
Late 60s Cards looked better with properly sized rear numbers and NNOB.
The Broncos and Chiefs also wore those small front numbers like the Cardinals did in the early 70’s. The jerseys were made by Russell. don’t know why they made them so small.
Tarkenton obviously handing off to Dave Osborne, Chuck Foreman lead blocker and STtu Voight run-blocking as well.
Bruce Levine is presumably a respected journalist and intelligent man, right? Makes me wonder why almost all of his tweets are riddled with errors. Has no one told him to proofread before posting?
I to the FanFest for DC’s 2018 All-Star game. I got tickets from a Nats fan in my neighborhood (who, coincidentally, I wound up moving four houses up from when we got our “forever home”) and took my older son. He was 10, so it was just about perfect timing, though not as perfect as his two favorite teams winning the Stanley Cup and World Series in back to back years. It was good, though I may not have wanted to pay $20 a head to go.
Also, after kayaking by Nationals Park later that season, I noticed the banners were being taken down. I tried to score one, but the best I could get was a ASG beer promo. I still have it.
Lastly, I remember the ad for the 1990 Cubs “All-Star Season” pretty well. I watched a lot of games on WGN back then.
Are you looking for volunteers to write ballpark content?
The closest I ever came to watching an ASG in person was in 1992 when the Sharks had their own intrasquad Skills Competition to determine who would represent the team at the real ASG in Montreal. The only one that qualified for the main event was Mike Sullivan for fastest skater, who later coached the Pens against the Sharks in the Stanley Cup Finals.
“Are you looking for volunteers to write ballpark content?”
Not explicitly, but I always welcome reader contributions, so if there is a park(s) you’d be interested in, hit me up (phil.hecken@gmail) and we can absolutely discuss!
Went to the Fan Fest, HR Derby and actual All-Star Game in 2000 in Atlanta. Actually saw and met Steve Carlton (not sure why he was there). Had to settle for SRO for both the derby and the game. Thoroughly enjoyed it, except for two things:
1) For some reason that year, the all-stars were not lined up along the base paths, but rather at their positions. While it was cool that some selected kids got to stand next to all-stars, I was disappointed I didn’t get to see my favorite part of the ASG in person. I’ve always loved seeing the all-stars be introduced standing next to each other in their different uniforms, especially in the ’70s and early-to-mid ’80s when the A’s and other teams wore softball tops. The A’s would actually have players wearing different jerseys, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
2) In the game, Jim Edmonds made an amazing diving catch near the wall, and I couldn’t see it because it happened literally under my SRO view.
I’ve been to the three ASGs held in Houston, 1968 and 1986 in the Astrodome, and 2004 in Minute Maid Park. The ’04 game was a great family memory. My sons were in middle school and were much bigger baseball fans than I was in those days I took them downtown that evening to hang out around Minute Maid Park and people watch, soak up some of the atmosphere and maybe catch a desperate scalper once the game started.
I had no luck with finding remotely reasonable tickets even as game time approached. As they were doing the pre-game introductions, the crowd outside the park had disappeared and we were ready to head home to watch the rest on TV. But as we were about to cross Texas Avenue a young guy in a suit and wearing about five pounds of credentials around his neck stopped us and asked us if we wanted to see the game. He showed us his MLB badge and produced three tickets and had us follow him to the gate. I remember looking at the tickets and realizing how good they were.
Two of the seats were behind the first base dugout, about 15 rows up, the other was in the first row of the stands above home plate. Total face value….$550 IIRC. Anyway my boys were about to hyperventilate as I parked them in the seats downstairs and headed for mine upstairs. Meanwhile, the American League was knocking around NL starter Roger Clemens. By the third inning I’d gone down to check on them and found that luckily there was an empty seat next to them. I stayed and watched the rest of the game from there.
Which brings me to the uni-centric part of all this. Sitting next to us in the box seats was an elderly Japanese gentleman with a Mizuno jacket. He was accompanied by a younger guy and both were very enthusiastic fans of Ichirio. My son happened to have his decades-old inherited Mizuno first baseman’s glove and when they spotted it they immediately asked to look at it and spent the next two innings examining it. Finally they handed it back and passed us the older man’s business card. Turns out he was president of their baseball equipment division. The younger guy was his aide/interpreter. I thought that was pretty neat.
An ASG at Wrigley would be cool. The Home Run Derby could be a disaster, if the wind is blowing in.
That’s what cracks me up. Most people think the wind is always blowing out at Wrigley. But, that is normally not the case. Just a handful of games a year are when the wind is blowing out.
On the other hand, imagine an all star game with a box score like this:
link
While I did not attend the 1990 All-Star game, I actually got to help set up the production for the game. My dad went to high school with the then-producer of CBS Sports, so me, a few of my friends, and a bunch of the players on my dad’s baseball team that he coached were stand-ins for the players. We had to line up on the base lines as the”players” during the pre-game introductions, as well as pose for other on-field shots. (I was Alan Trammell.)
I just had a talk with my left nut and told it that it was going to be the “sacrificial lamb” in 2027. That’s probably the only way I could be able to afford to go to the ASG.
Start working an extra job NOW. Especially if you know you will go to the ASG. Over 2 years away. Every time you work your extra job just keep in mind how much fun the event will be. It will all be worth it.
I’ve been to an ASG but not any major pro leagues. When the American Association had their ASG in Rosemont, IL (Chicago suburb) in 2022, I went to both the HR derby and the game itself. The derby was fun, although one fan had to be taken out after a HR ball landed on his face. The game was alright, though if you’re not into minor league baseball, it would’ve been forgettable. Would recommend it though, and will give it my all to head to the midsummer classic in 2 years at Wrigley. Go Cubs Go!
I’ve been to one MLB & one MiLB all star game.
We went to the 2016 MLB All Star game in San Diego. I was waffling on the price and my wife said, “it’s on you bucket list and you will be too old the next time it’s there.” So, we went and took the kids to the HR derby. Blew our budget for the year, but the kids still talk about that summer.
Also went to the AAA All Star game in Indianapolis in 2001 when Adam Dunn won MVP. Hit the longest HR I’ve ever seen in person. Went out of the stadium and bounced on the West St.
Hey folks,
Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but the words used in the meeting were “IN CONSIDERATION”.
Official, was a word that was never used.
The MLB counselor, says they will probably not make a final determination til the end of the month.
I bet it’s really bothering you that the entire comment section is “I went to…”, eh?
The revenue for “Chicago” will be closer to $300 than $250,000,000 if the 2027 All Star Game is at Wrigley. Ticket revenue from the game goes to MLB, not to pay for the extra security costs the city pays. Locals who go to the game are just spending money they otherwise would have spent elsewhere, and tourists coming in for the game are blocking out other tourists who would have come to town if the game wasn’t in Chicago.
The ASG was also a bucket list item for me, which I checked off in 2013 at Citi Field. Honestly, the game was underwhelming (mainly because the NL played so poorly), but the surrounding events were a lot of fun. The Fan Fest and Futures Game were highlights. Was it worth the price? Probably not. Do I regret spending the money? Defnitely not.
Can’t MLB just hand out the ASG in rotation and alternate between NL and AL? If money is driving how they hand them out, I fear one day it will start to look like the Super Bowl where we end up with the same 5-6 stadiums with an occasional other one mixed in.
My dad and I volunteered as part of some of the 2013 ASG festivities — I staffed a shift at Fan Fest (and then got to attend, which was fun, basically a weekend-long museum/interactive venue/tchotchke bazaar), and my dad staffed some sort of dinner where he handed out replica HR apples (including giving one to Frank Thomas). Didn’t get to the actual game, but to be honest I think the side events seem more fun. I’ve gone to three minor-league ASGs, one of which ended in a tie, and I can’t say any were super exciting.
I attended both the fan fest and the ASG in Seattle in 2001. It was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed both. It took probably 6 months or so to pay off my tickets, but it was well worth it. When the ASG returned in ’23 I had no interest. I’d already done it. I didn’t want to spend the money/effort to go again. It wasn’t cheap in ’01 and the prices were outside my comfort level the second time around.