By KEVIN KERNAN
Last updated: 7:15 am
July 15, 2009
Posted: 2:41 am
July 15, 2009
ST. LOUIS -- The Yankees had their All-Star party last year, with an All-Star farewell to Yankee Stadium. The Mets and Citi Field will be having their All-Star Summer hello in 2013.
That was the word yesterday from MLB sources. The next two All-Star Games are set, Anaheim next season and Arizona in 2011. Then it shifts back to an AL club the following year, most likely in Kansas City. That leaves 2013 all set for Citi Field and the Mets.
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"That's the way it's looking," a source told The Post yesterday. "That also gives Citi Field time to get everything set. The Mets deserve to have an All-Star Game."
The Nationals also want the 2013 game, but will probably have to wait until 2015. Commissioner Bud Selig said that cities are waiting in line to host All-Star Games. "That wasn't always the case," Selig said.
Selig has made it a priority to make the All-Star Game stand out as a special event that a city can embrace. St. Louis has done just that this week in the 80th All-Star Game at Busch Stadium. New York did it last year with the All-Star goodbye to Yankee Stadium. There has to be space between two All-Star games in New York.
"Playing in New York last year was great for me," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "It was a lot of fun to play in front of the same fans that see you every day.
"New York deserves its fair share of All-Star games. I think with Citi being new and the new amenities and just how glowingly everybody else talks about the ballpark, they deserve it. Hopefully I can play at a level to make the All-Star team there."
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The Mets haven't hosted an All-Star Game since 1964 at Shea Stadium. There have been seven All-Star Games in New York, dating back to the second one in 1934 at the Polo Grounds. The AL won that game, 9-7. That was the day Carl Hubbell struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin in succession.
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