Dodgers reveal 2022 MLB All-Star Game schedule with major changes
After the pandemic wiped away the summer of 2020 from the baseball calendar, the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally prepared to host the All-Star Game and all its requisite festivities in and around Dodger Stadium in 2022.
The team, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, announced the full schedule of events on Tuesday afternoon, and though most of the tentpoles remain, some of this sounds a little different than what you’re likely used to.
Some of it might have to do with the vastness of Los Angeles and the difficulty of travel. Some of it might just be because these surrounding events have gotten a little stale and static.
Whatever the case may be, LA’s All-Star Game seems to have a bit of a Super Bowl vibe — but they’ve made the Futures Game, featuring the league’s top prospects, even harder to watch.
MLB’s All-Star Game 2022 schedule is loaded — and goes to Saturday now?
That’s right! “All-Star Sunday,” featuring the Futures Game, has always annoyingly overlapped with the final day of the regular-season schedule prior to the All-Star Break. Given the choice, most fans picked “their team” instead of a prospect exhibition, which made sense!
Now? It’s been moved to … Saturday, the second-to-last day of the regular season schedule, to make room for the MLB Draft on Sunday, which Rob Manfred clearly envisions as a centerpiece event. Let’s see how this one plays out.
Additionally, the familiar “FanFest,” featuring games, collectors, merchandise, clinics and autographs appears to have been bumped aside, at least for this summer. The only problem? It’s difficult to figure out what the rough equivalent is.
Is it ‘MLB All-Star Oceanfront,” purported to feature “baseball-themed sand sculptures” and a carnival by the beach? Probably. But, in that case, what exactly is going down at “MLB Live in DTLA,” the details of which are scarce so far.
The Dodgers might be ready, but we’re not really.
It’s likely time for a change from the traditional FanFest format, especially since no one wants to hang out a the Los Angeles Convention Center.
That said, let’s see how this experiment plays out. Losing fan-player interaction also feels like a gigantic miss, unless retired stars end up popping out of the sand sculptures.