LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium’s 40-year wait to host the All-Star Game is going to last even longer.
The game scheduled for July 14 was canceled Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Dodger Stadium was awarded the 2022 Midsummer Classic. The 2021 game is set for Atlanta’s Truist Park, home to the Braves since 2017.
Because of the pandemic, opening day had already been delayed from March 26 to July 23 or 24.
“Once it became clear we were unable to hold this year’s All-Star festivities, we wanted to award the Dodgers with the next available All-Star Game, which is 2022,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
No date for the 2022 game has been announced, although Dodgers President Stan Kasten said it would take place in the third week of July.
This year will be the first time since 1945 that no game is held. Travel restrictions because of World War II kept the game scheduled for Boston’s Fenway Park and any player selections from taking place that year. It was pushed back to the next season.
The Dodgers hosted the only the Midsummer Classic in Dodger Stadium history in 1980, won 4-2 by the National League.
The stadium — third-oldest in baseball behind Fenway and Chicago’s Wrigley Field — is the only park in the majors not to have increased its 56,000-seat capacity since it opened in 1962.
That’s not to say it hasn’t changed, however.
Since 2013, the stadium that overlooks downtown Los Angeles has undergone a series of structural and behind-the-scenes improvements, including two entrance plazas on the field level, tiered seating and bar areas overlooking both bullpens. The ballpark has also gotten new HD video screens and sound systems, wider concourses and renovated restrooms, kids play areas, displays to honor the franchise’s storied history, new home and visiting clubhouses and batting cages.
And that doesn’t include the $100 million in renovations that helped the Dodgers land the 2020 game. Those feature two acres of food and entertainment offerings in a new center field plaza and spruced-up outfield pavilions.
Positive tests for 31 players
NEW YORK — Thirty-one Major League Baseball players and seven staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during intake for the resumption of training, a rate of 1.2%.
MLB and the players’ association announced the results Friday as teams resumed workouts for the first time since the coronavirus interrupted spring training on March 12, two weeks before the season was to start. Opening day has been reset for July 23, the latest in baseball history.
The positive tests occurred among 19 of the 30 teams There were 3,185 samples collected and tested through the first week of intake testing.
Individual players have not been identified.
Trout wary of season
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout rounded third base wearing a white N-95 mask Friday morning as he participated in the Angels first workout of summer camp.
The reigning American League MVP is taking every necessary precaution as he ponders whether he will be the lineup when the season begins in three weeks.
Trout and his wife, Jessica, are expecting the couple’s first child in August. The 28-year old outfielder said his mindset is to play in the virus-delayed, 60-game season, but a lot will hinge on how he feels the next couple weeks
“Honestly, I still don’t feel that comfortable,” he said. “This is a tough time, a tough situation everyone is in. Everybody has a responsibility in this clubhouse. Social distance, stay inside, wear a mask and be safe.”
