Personally, I have many fond memories of going to Philies games with my family growing up. My father was, and continues to be a huge fan, no matter if they are winning the World Series or 14 games out at the All Star Break. I remember going to the 1996 All Star Fanfest and all the excitement that surrounded the game coming to the city. Now that the Phillies continue to be a major draw, and lead the league in attendance, there is really no need to bring that to Philadelphia - for now.
Major League Baseball has announced the New York Mets will host the 2013 game at Citi Field. This keeps the game alternating from AL to NL each year like MLB likes to do. Except in 2007, when the game was hosted by the Giants at SBC Park (now AT&T Park) after being played in Pittsburgh July of 2006. Back in 2005, this wasn't a huge deal to Bud Selig:
Doesn't seem like it would be that huge of a deal to play in back to back NL parks, until this year."We do love the All-Star Game as a showcase for our new venues...I'll try and alternate the game (between leagues) if I can, but this is a great way to show off our new (ballparks)." (Link)
In this article about the 2013 All Star Game announcement from the Huffington Post:
What a far cry from his comments in 2005 about showing off the leagues new venues. And yes, home field advantage in the World Series from the All Star game was instituted in 2003. So those implications were still in effect when the Giants hosted the game right after the Pirates. Not a major surprise that Bud Selig flip-flopped on a decision.'Because home-field advantage for the World Series goes to the All-Star winner, Selig said he would be reluctant to interrupt alternating All-Star sites between the leagues.'
This was really bound to happen with the influx of new stadiums, many of them coming in the National League. For example, the last time the Phillies hosted the game was 1996 at Veterans Stadium; new venues like Camden Yards (1993 ASG) Ballpark at Arlington (1995 ASG) and Jacobs Field (1997 ASG) were built and hosted/were scheduled to host the Midsummer Classic.
There are eight stadiums around the league that have never hosted an All Star Game, five of them reside in the National League. Great American Ballpark and Tropicana Field both opened before Citizen's Bank Park in 2004. I see no way Tampa gets it before getting a new stadium. The New Yankee Stadium opened in 2009, but they hosted the game in 2008 - the final year of Yankee Stadium. So two of the three AL venues are out for awhile. Target Field in Minnesota is the supposed favorite to land the 2014 game. In 2015, there are 3 NL teams that are bidding for the game - Washington, Miami and Cincinnati. All of those teams could use the boost in interest & economy that the All Star Game will bring, so they could potentially get it before the Phillies. The only other venue is PETCO Park and with the Padres getting sold, I'm sure the new owners will want to make a splash at some point and the game there.
Then, there are teams in old stadiums that haven't hosted in awhile: Dodgers last hosted in 1980, the Blue Jays in 1991, and the Cubs in 1990 to name a few. (Note: Cubs are bidding for 2014 since it will be the centennial of Wrigley Field). So, just looking at it quickly, at least the Mets, Twins, Reds, Nationals, Marlins and Padres will host the game before the Phillies. I wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore, Cleveland, LA Dodgers and Texas get put in there somewhere.
Taking all this into account, my best hypothesis is the Phillies will host the 2021 All Star Game. By that point, the team as we know it will be gone and who knows how successful they will be, possibly struggling for attendance like the mid-late 1990s.. It will have been 25 years since the Phillies hosted the game. Many of the other teams struggling for attendance and needing that spark will have gotten the game. This also takes into account Major League Baseball keeping the 'tradition' of alternating leagues for the All Star Game. Of course, the club & city will need to actually bid on the opportunity for the game. And as we saw in Kansas City this year, MLB is prone to help struggling teams, bringing fans out for the festivities. As a Philly fan, hopefully that doesn't happen for awhile, although it'd be nice to see everything in Philadelphia again.
