Cincinnati Reds awarded the 2015 All-Star Game

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Reds have been awarded Major League Baseball’s 2015 All-Star Game and will host the 86^th Midsummer Classic at Great American Ball Park, Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today at a press conference.  Commissioner Selig was joined by Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini.

Commissioner Selig said: “I am very pleased to award the 2015 All-Star Game to the Reds and the great fans of Cincinnati.  The Midsummer Classic will be a remarkable opportunity to celebrate Cincinnati’s rich baseball tradition, which parallels the history of the national pastime itself.  I thank Bob Castellini and the entire Reds organization for sharing our enthusiasm about bringing the All-Star Game to Great American Ball Park for the first time in 2015.”

"We thank Commissioner Selig and Major League Baseball for the honor of hosting the 2015 All-Star Game," Castellini said. "Commissioner Selig's staff and our hard-working, very talented organization will team with the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Northern Kentucky and the entire region to produce a jewel event Reds fans will remember for the rest of their lives. Tomorrow, we will begin turning our All-Star Game dream into reality."

The 2015 All-Star Game will mark the fifth time that the Reds will serve as hosts of the Midsummer Classic, and Great American Ball Park will be the city’s third venue to host the festivities.  Crosley Field staged the 1938 and 1953 All-Star Games, while Riverfront Stadium was the venue for the 1970 and 1988 Midsummer Classics.  The National League has won three of the four All-Star Games played in Cincinnati.  Hometown hurler Johnny Vander Meer, just weeks removed from his back-to-back no-hitters, earned the win in a 4-1 game on July 6, 1938, in which the American League committed four errors in the field.  Hall of Famers Enos Slaughter and Pee Wee Reese led the N.L. to a 5-1 win on July 14, 1953, backed by seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball from Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn and Curt Simmons.  On July 14, 1970 at Riverfront Stadium, the N.L. scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4 and prevailed in the 12-inning affair, 5-4, when Pete Rose scored the winning run after colliding with catcher Ray Fosse, one of the most memorable plays in All-Star Game history.  The A.L. took its first All-Star Game in the Queen City on July 12, 1988, when Terry Steinbach hit a solo homer and a sacrifice fly and the A.L. surrendered just five hits, all singles, in a 2-1 win.

Great American Ball Park, which is located on the winding banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati at 100 Joe Nuxhall Way, opened on March 31, 2003.  The 42,319-seat facility offers innovative features, breathtaking views and affordable seating options.  Great American Ball Park pays homage to the long and illustrious history of the franchise via the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, which has artifacts and memorabilia dating back to 1869.  Statues on Crosley Terrace honor Reds All-Stars Ted Kluszewski, Ernie Lombardi, Nuxhall and MLB Executive Vice President Frank Robinson, and another at “Nuxy’s Entrance” commemorates the career of Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.  

Further details on the history of the Reds and the Midsummer Classic are available in the accompanying Fact Sheet.  The 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, on Tuesday, July 16^th.  The 2014 Midsummer Classic is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15^th at Target Field in Minneapolis, the home of the Minnesota Twins.