Twins to host 2014 All-Star Game

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The Minnesota Twins will host the 2014 All-Star Game, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced Wednesday.

Selig made the announcement at the Twins' Target Field.

"It is my great honor to name the Minnesota Twins as the hosts of the 2014 All-Star Game," Selig said. "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 Carl's legacy, one of our game's model franchises and the spectacular Target Field, which deserves to be showcased on this global stage."

The Twins moved to open-air Target Field, which seats 39,504, in 2010. It would mark the first time the Twin Cities host MLB's All-Star Game since 1985, when it was played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The Twins played 28 seasons at the Metrodome before moving into Target Field, an open-air, limestone-and-glass ballpark on the other side of downtown Minneapolis.

"It is an honor for the Minnesota Twins to be selected to host the 2014 All-Star Game at Target Field," Twins owner and CEO Jim Pohlad said. "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."

The 2013 All-Star Game is set for Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The Kansas City Royals hosted this year's game at Kauffman Stadium.

Tampa Bay, an expansion team in 1998, is the only AL team that hasn't hosted an All-Star Game. Other than the Rays, the Twins had the longest current wait in the AL for the game. The Oakland Athletics are next, having hosted the game in 1987.

Miami and Washington, D.C., are the leading contenders for the 2015 game. Because home-field advantage for the World Series goes to the All-Star winner, Selig has said he's reluctant to interrupt alternating All-Star sites between the leagues.

The Minnesota Wild hosted the NHL All-Star Game at Xcel Energy Center in 2004, and the Minnesota Timberwolves were the home team for the NBA All-Star Game at Target Center in 1994.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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