Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The MLB All-Star Game: a once meaningful, now aimless whirlwind, which cities nevertheless still clamor to host. Its nickname, the Midsummer Classic, harkens to the time when Ted Williams was swatting home runs off Truett “Rip” Sewell when interleague play was rare. This year, the weekend—filled with celebrity softball, pros hitting the ball as far as humanly possible, and the best and brightest playing with no real postseason stakes—returns to Atlanta on July 15.
The All-Star Game, with a roster selected by votes from fans, players, and the MLB Commissioner’s Office, has been played in Atlanta three times. It was almost four: In 2021, a newish Truist Park was set to welcome the game, but that same year, the Georgia General Assembly passed a controversial election law that placed heavy restrictions on voting access, a move that critics warned would impede voting for many communities of color. In protest, MLB moved that year’s edition to Denver.
Four years later, the Election Integrity Act remains in place, but MLB has brought the All-Star Game back to Atlanta. This time around, the Braves intend to give it staying power through the city’s communities.
For every All-Star Game, MLB partners with the host team for its Legacy Initiative program to invest money in local communities. In 2021, the Braves still honored the planned Legacy Initiative projects, which included new baseball fields and youth leagues in southeast Atlanta and Marietta. “Even though the game had moved, we still wanted to fulfill our commitments,” says Danielle Bedasse, vice president of community affairs. This year’s initiatives include more youth baseball and softball fields at the Barksdale Boys & Girls Club in Conyers and at Rhyne Park in Smyrna, as well as a neighborhood farm with Food Well Alliance in Leila Valley in southwest Atlanta.
Truist Park will introduce a new sensory space in the stadium where those with autism and other sensory needs can take a break from the crowd. The room—similar to those cropping up in other MLB stadiums—was designed with Marcus Autism Center and ReClif, a local autism-centered fitness and therapy center. Braves first baseman Matt Olson, who is involved with ReClif, was a big advocate for creating such a space. It will debut for the All-Star Game and remain open for the second half of the season. “The All-Star Game gives us a great reason to invest in our community,” Bedasse says. “Our hope is that the initiative’s high tide raises all the boats.”
Over the years, the stakes of the Midsummer Classic have gradually eroded, causing fan attention to wane. In 2017, MLB scrapped a short-lived policy wherein the winning league clinched World Series home-field advantage; some players now skip out to avoid injury. For those who do take the diamond, it’s an awkward, half-hearted song and dance of a baseball game. That said, fans still vote in droves for their favorite players to make the roster, hoping to catch some fireworks and memories from the stars of America’s pastime.
This article appears in our July 2025 issue.
