Mariners’ T-Mobile Park officially named site of 2023 MLB All-Star Game
Sep 16, 2021, 1:21 PM | Updated: 5:53 pm
In this April 1, 2021, file photo, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales throws to a San Francisco Giants batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Seattle. The Mariners will host baseball’s 2023 All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park, as announced at a news conference Thursday at Seattle's Space Needle with baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
For the third time in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners will host the MLB All-Star Game in 2023.
Mariners land All-Star Game earlier than expected
An official announcement was made Thursday afternoon at Seattle’s Space Needle to name T-Mobile Park the site of baseball’s annual “Midsummer Classic” in July 2023. In addition to the All-Star Game, which is typically played on a Tuesday evening in mid-July, the events at T-Mobile Park will include the annual Home Run Derby on the Monday night before, the Futures and Celebrity Softball games on Sunday afternoon, and the latest addition to the festivities, the MLB Draft.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement, and present at the news conference were the Mariners’ two Baseball Hall of Famers, Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, in addition to Mariners front office members and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan.
In July 2023, baseball’s brightest stars will shine during an unforgettable week in Seattle. pic.twitter.com/8K9jZFpspC
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 16, 2021
The Mariners last hosted the All-Star Game in 2001 at then-Safeco Field, just two years after the building opened. That game turned out to be a showcase for a Mariners team that tied to MLB record for most wins in a regular season with 116. The M’s had eight All-Stars on the American League roster, with Ichiro Suzuki hitting a leadoff single for the AL, Freddy Garcia earning the win and Kazuhiro Sasaki recording the save.
The Groz Remembers: Mariners host 2001 All-Star Game
The team has made T-Mobile Park its home for the last 23 seasons after it opened for the second half of the 1999 campaign. It was renamed from Safeco Field prior to the 2019 season.
In addition to being the place the Mariners have called home for longest stretch in team history, T-Mobile Park has also held concerts by big-name acts including Paul McCartney, Jay-Z and Beyonce, and Pearl Jam, was the site of WWE’s Wrestlemania XIX in 2003, and even hosted the Seattle Bowl college football game in 2001 between Georgia Tech and Stanford.
The 2022 MLB All-Star Game will be held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dodger Stadium was initially set to host the 2020 game, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. The 2021 All-Star Game was played at Colorado’s Coors Field. It was relocated from its original planned site, the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park, due to MLB’s objections to sweeping changes to Georgia voting laws that critics – including the CEOs of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola – condemned as being too restrictive.
Seattle first hosted the All-Star Game in 1979 at the team’s first home, the Kingdome. The Mariners, who were in their third year of MLB play at the time, played their first 22 1/2 seasons in the building, moving across the street in July 1999 to Safeco Field. The Kingdome was demolished on Jan. 9, 2000 to make room for a new Seahawks stadium, which is now called Lumen Field.
Mariners announce extension to keep 710 ESPN Seattle as radio home
Watch the Mariners’ news conference making the announcement here:
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mariners’ Dipoto: How Kelenic’s been pitched, who Julio Rodríguez compares to
