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Dodgers reveal 2022 MLB All-Star Game schedule with major changes

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Dodgers Way

May 3, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts (right) is interviewed by Alanna Rizzo during the MLB All-Start Game launch event at Dodger Stadium. The launch event was to celebrate the first All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in more than 40 years. Dodger Stadium was slated to host the MLB All-Star Game two years ago but it was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

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.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard and Dodgers Way for 4 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast twice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for eight years. Previously, he was a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.