Atlanta to host 2021 MLB All-Star Game
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - The home of the Atlanta Braves will host the 2021 All-Star Game.
During a pre-game press conference, Braves officials announced SunTrust Park will be the home to the game in two years. Baseball Commission Rob Manfred made the announcement.
The Braves also trotted out some of their all-time All-Stars including Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro, Tom Glavine, Terry Pendleton, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones just to name a few.
Of course, Atlanta fans hope to fill the National Team with Braves by then.
Several dignitaries including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp were also on hand to herald in the good news.
The 41,000-seat park opened in 2017 in Cobb County.
The LED lights give the stadium a new dimension and personality during night games.
The dimensions of the field are 335 feet in the leftfield corner, 375 feet in the leftfield center, 400 feet in centerfield, 375 feet in the right-field center, and 325 in the right-field corner.
The height of the wall in the outfield varies by section. The right field Chop House wall is brick is often tricky for outfielders who let baseballs bounce off.
The type of grass installed is Seashore Paspalum, Platinum TE. They used about 109,000 square feet of sod to put the playing field together. The Braves used Bent Oak Sod Farm in Foley, Alabama as their supplier. There are 10 layers that make up the playing field at SunTrust Park. And of course, an extremely advanced irrigation system. The infield is obviously Georgia clay.
Fans sit in mesh seats to keep cool and are offered an intimate, up-close look at the players.
The ballpark is surrounded by a mixed-use development named The Battery. It hosts several Braves events and has multiple bars and restaurants which makes the area more of destination, rather than just a ball field.
Manfred said SunTrust Park and the adjacent Battery mixed-use development is "the best in baseball."
Braves manager Brian Snitker said the All-Star Game will be an opportunity to "let the world see what we have going on here."
This will be the third All-Star Game in Atlanta. The 1972 game was played at a ballpark best known as Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The 2000 game was at Turner Field, the former 1996 Olympic Stadium that was the Braves' home from 1997-2016.
The National League will be host six times in seven years. This year's All-Star Game is July 9 at Cleveland's Progressive Field and next year's game is at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Of course, with the merger of SunTrust with majority holder BB&T, the name of the park may actually change by the time the game is hosted by Atlanta.
The Associated Press contributed to this report