The Twin Cities Will Host Midsummer Classic for the Third Time

MINNEAPOLIS The Minnesota Twins have been awarded Major League Baseballs 2014 All-Star Game and will host the 85th Midsummer Classic at Target Field, Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today at a press conference at Target Field. Commissioner Selig was joined by Twins owner Jim Pohlad, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Hennepin County Board Chairman Mike Opat and a number of distinguished Twins alumni players who have participated in past All-Star Games.

Commissioner Selig said: It is my great honor to name the Minnesota Twins as the hosts of the 2014 All-Star Game. This is especially meaningful to me because of my close personal and professional relationship with Carl Pohlad, who was one of the finest owners in professional sports. The Midsummer Classic will be a celebration of Carls legacy, one of our games model franchises and the spectacular Target Field, which deserves to be showcased on this global stage.

It is an honor for the Minnesota Twins to be selected to host the 2014 All-Star Game at Target Field, said Jim Pohlad, Owner and CEO, Minnesota Twins. The excitement of having the Midsummer Classic will permeate the Twin Cities and be a great showcase for our region and for our wonderful community asset, Target Field. My father and Commissioner Selig were very close, so we are thrilled to have the Commissioner at Target Field to announce an All-Star Game coming to the Twin Cities.

This is the kind of excitement we envisioned six years ago when the Hennepin County Board authorized the sales tax to help finance the new Twins ballpark, said Mike Opat, Chair of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. Target Field opened a new frontier in downtown Minneapolis and in 2014, well share it with the nation during All-Star Week.

I remember being lucky enough, as a starry-eyed kid, to attend the 1965 All-Star Game at the old Met Stadium, said R.T. Rybak, Mayor, City of Minneapolis. Holding this game in Minneapolis almost 50 years later, at the best new park in baseball, will be another unforgettable experience for all of us and it will have a huge, positive financial impact on our city. Now were going to get to work doing what we do best: being great hosts in the greatest host city in America.

The 2014 All-Star Game on Tuesday July 15, 2014 will mark the third time that the Twins will serve as hosts of the Midsummer Classic. Metropolitan Stadium hosted the 1965 All-Star Game, a 6-5 National League victory that featured 18 Hall of Famers, including Harmon Killebrew, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Juan Marichal and Willie Mays, as well as MLB Executive Vice Presidents Frank Robinson and Joe Torre.

In 1985, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome staged the 56th All-Star Game, a 6-1 N.L. victory that included Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith and Dave Winfield.

Target Field, which debuted in 2010 as the new open-air home of the Twins, is located in downtown Minneapolis. The stone-and-glass ballpark is rooted in nature and the outdoors. Target Field became the first professional sports facility to receive LEED® Silver Certification for both construction and operations. The Twins efforts at Target Field made them the first professional sports franchise also to attain LEED (Leadershipin Energy & Environmental Design) Silver Certification for the operation and maintenance of its facility.

Further details on the history of the Twins and the Midsummer Classic are available in the accompanying Fact Sheet, which can be viewed here.

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Contact: Patrick Courtney or Michael Teevan, Major League Baseball, (212) 931-7878, twitter.com/mlb_pr; Kevin Smith, Minnesota Twins, (612) 659-3500.