The 2016 MLB All-Star Game will feature something different this year, with the American League as the technical home team for the contest even though the game will be played at a National League stadium, Petco Park in San Diego.
MLB All-Star Game 2016 live stream: How to watch the Midsummer Classic online
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But when folks tune in to either the Fox television broadcast of the game, or watch a simulcast online via Fox Sports Go, they will notice the AL batting in the bottom of each inning. That’s because for whatever reason, in its infinite wisdom, Major League Baseball awarded four straight All-Star Games to National League cities from 2015-2018, starting with Cincinnati last year, to San Diego this year, followed by Miami and Washington D.C.
This year might have been in an American League city, with Baltimore as the strong favorite for this year's Midsummer Classic back in 2014, but perhaps not so coincidentally with the Orioles' ongoing television rights dispute with the Nationals and MLB raging on, Charm City did not win the rights to host in 2016, helping to create this NL hosting supremacy.
So MLB for this year decided to alternate home field advantage in the game that will determine home field advantage in the World Series.
Pregame coverage of the All-Star Game begins on Fox Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET, hosted by Kevin Burkhardt, along with analysts Tom Verducci, five-time All-Star Frank Thomas and 17-time All-Star Pete Rose. Pregame coverage shifts to Fox at 7:30 p.m., followed by the game itself at 8 p.m.
Joe Buck will call play-by-play action, joined in the booth by Hall of Famer John Smoltz, with Ken Rosenthal and Verducci reporting from the dugouts. The game can be streamed online using Fox Sports Go.
2016 MLB All-Star Game info
Location: Petco Park, San Diego
Pregame: 7 p.m. ET (Fox Sports 1), 7:30 p.m. (Fox)
Game time: 8 p.m.
TV: Fox
Online: Fox Sports Go
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