It’s only a few days following the 2026 All-Star Game, hosted by the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
So it’s time for MLB to turn its attention to next year’s Midsummer Classic, which will be hosted by the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the ballpark’s first turn at hosting since 1990.
Before Friday’s game, the team held a ceremony to unveil the logo that will be used for promoting the game over the next year. (And, of course, it will be all over merchandise which I’m sure you can pick up soon.)
The Cubs honored each of the previous All-Star Games at Wrigley Field, which were held in 1947, 1962 and 1990. For the 1947 game, Phil Cavarretta’s niece represented the former Cubs star, along with a high school athlete from Cavarretta’s school, Lane Tech, which is located just a couple of miles west of Wrigley Field.
In 1962, Billy Williams was among three Cub All-Stars, and he was on the field representing that team, along with another local high school athlete. And in 1990, Andre Dawson and Shawon Dunston were among three Cub All-Stars (along with the late Ryne Sandberg), and both were there, with a third high school athlete.
Those groups planted a base with their year’s All-Star logo at first, second and third base, respectively, then Pete Crow-Armstrong helped unveil the 2027 logo, which you can see at the top of this post.
The Cubs and MLB did a nice job on this logo. It evokes Wrigley Field’s famous marquee and in between “All” and “Star,” the six-pointed star is similar to the stars on the city of Chicago flag. Nicely done.
Wrigley Field will become the only current ballpark to have hosted the All-Star Game four times. Two other parks no longer in use also hosted four times: Municipal Stadium in Cleveland (1935, 1954, 1963 and 1981) and the original Yankee Stadium (1939, 1960, 1977 and 2008).
Of course, there’s the specter of the MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement expiring at the end of this year and the possibility that games might be lost in 2027, including this All-Star Game. Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney addressed that, quoted in this Tribune article by Meghan Montemurro:
“The All-Star Game is a whole different animal, so we’re going to have to operate as if there is no end of the CBA and that there is no pause in play, which we still hope is the case,” Kenney said. “There’s a great case to be made that both sides will come together, we’ll get something done and there’ll be no interruption to play, and we just have to operate with that as our strategy.
“It’s not like we’re going to plan to have concerts. Normally the All-Star break is a really lucrative concert window for us, which is very helpful to putting a great payroll together for Jed (Hoyer). We won’t have that next year, and we won’t be loading shows in as a contingency. And what we learned through COVID and the last lockout and sort of a quick start to play is that we can spin up our operation with 30 days’ notice.”
If all goes as scheduled, the stars will meet at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, July 13, 2027.
Here’s the entire pregame ceremony, which was very nicely done:
There will be another Cubs ceremony held this morning, beginning right around the time this article is posted. It will officially dedicate Champions Gate at Gallagher Way, an entry to the area that honors all three Cubs World Series champion teams. BCB’s Sara Sanchez will have a full report on the ceremony here tomorrow.
