Mets Among Top Candidates For Upcoming All-Star Game

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Angels and the Mets have emerged as prime candidates to host All-Star games in the next few years.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday the 2008 game will be at Yankee Stadium, which is scheduled to close after next season, and the 2009 game is at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

The Angels are a candidate for the 2010 game, and the Mets are a candidate for the 2011 or 2013 game, a pair of baseball officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Selig had not announced any decisions.

Angel Stadium has undergone extensive renovations since the All-Star game was last played there in 1989. The Angels also hosted the All-Stars in 1967.

The Mets hosted the All-Stars in 1964, Shea Stadium's first season. They plan to move into their new ballpark, Citi Field, in 2009.

Washington, which moves into a new ballpark next year, also is among the NL hopefuls to get an All-Star game in the next few years along with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the executives said. Kansas City and Tampa Bay are among the AL teams that would like to host the All-Stars, the executive added.

Next year's game at Yankee Stadium will mark the first not played at a new ballpark since the All-Stars went to Boston's Fenway Park in 1999.

"As long as they're saying goodbye to it, we ought to do the same thing," Selig said.

The Angels' status was first reported yesterday by the Los Angeles Times.