The backlash against a small city like Kansas City hosting the 2012 All-Star Game is beginning. Boston, another one of the teams in the running, obviously thinks they should've been the pick. And that's fine. They made good points.
But then there's this from Deadspin:
All-Star Games should be about either showcasing shiny new stadiums, or beautiful old ones. And while Kauffman may be old (it already hosted an All-Star Game in 1973), it's far from beautiful, or historic. Take a look at the Wikipedia section on Kauffman Stadium's history. It jumps directly from "Royals win the World Series in 1985" to "Bud Selig announces it will host the 2012 All-Star Game."
"Far from beautiful"....Unfortunately, this holds little weight. Take a look at what others have said about Kauffman. It's been received very, very well.
From a stadium review on The Globe and Mail:
I'm not sure what, if anything, I was hoping to find when I embarked on this, the baseball road trip of a lifetime. But while standing behind Kauffman Stadium's famous right field water spectacular, one month into my travels, staring out on to the pristine field where the Kansas City Royals were hosting the Cleveland Indians I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I'd found what I was looking for; that I had, in some way, made it home. Because Kauffman Stadium, "The K" as she's called by the locals, took my breath away. She left me feeling that within her confines is exactly where the game of baseball was meant to be played.
"We've got the perfect ballpark for it," Kendall said. "It's the most gorgeous ballpark in the game."
"The city's obviously bid for that pretty often, I would think, and to get it is a tribute to the way they've upgraded the stadium here.
"I didn't even recognize it this year when I was there for Zack Greinke's Cy Young Award," Saberhagen said. "Everything had changed, from the clubhouse to the exterior to the stadium club. When I walked through the glass doors, it was like walking into the Taj Mahal."
"There were so many guys with the Mariners this year that had never been to Kansas City, and they were raving about the clubhouse, the stadium and the field and just how awesome the city of Kansas City is -- the Plaza, the restaurants, the barbecue," Sweeney said.