MLB yesterday officially awarded the '14 All-Star Game to Target Field, and Commissioner Bud Selig said that it "really wasn't a tough decision" to give the Twins the game, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Selig said, “I just don't like to do this (formal announcement) too soon, but I knew a long time ago where the 2014 All-Star Game was (heading). It's coming here because it's the right thing to do, and this is the right place to be." Christensen noted the only "wrinkle in the Twins' four-year-long quest to land the event came when the Ricketts family bought the Cubs in 2009 and requested the 2014 All-Star Game as a tie in with the 100th anniversary season at Wrigley Field.” Kauffman Stadium in K.C. hosted this year's All-Star Game and was "sold out for three consecutive days.” Twins President Dave St. Peter said, "I would expect that for the most part, tickets will be sold in strips, as they were in Kansas City. I don't know how long that has been the practice. It's set by Major League Baseball, not set by the Twins.” St. Peter added that Twins season-ticket holders “will have priority for buying the 2014 All-Star strips, based on the volume and price of their ticket package” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/30). Twins Owner Jim Pohlad Monday said that “talks between the Twins and Selig's office had ramped up in recent days and that Minnesota's bid was now about ‘finishing touches’” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/30). MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger noted this marks the "third time the iconic event will be held in Minnesota, as the Twins hosted the 1965 All-Star Game at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minn., and the '85 Midsummer Classic at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.” Selig said of the decision to return to Minnesota, "Given everything and what's happened here with the ballpark and everything else, it was really pretty easy” (MLB.com, 8/29).
