It's been 35 years since the Toronto Blue Jays hosted an All-Star Game, and there's still no real sign of when, or if, that changes anytime soon.
Philadelphia hosts its fourth Midsummer Classic this week, the first at Citizens Bank Park since the Phillies last had it at Veterans Stadium back in 1996.
Chicago is next in line for 2027, assuming there's even a season to speak of given the uncertainty around a new collective bargaining agreement.
Toronto, meanwhile, just poured $400 million into renovating Rogers Centre and still can't get a straight answer from MLB about its place in the rotation.
The last real word came in March, when Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith reported that Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said the team wasn't on the immediate list.
"It's been put, frankly, on hold," Shapiro said. "Things have pushed it back."
Shapiro pointed to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles as one factor, but a team can only hear "not yet" so many times before it starts to feel like something more permanent.
Why other franchises keep getting a second turn
Since Toronto last hosted in 1991, the Guardians, Braves, Rangers, Phillies, Padres and Rockies have all hosted twice.
The Mariners joined the league the same year as the Blue Jays in 1977, and Seattle has already hosted three All-Star Games at T-Mobile Park.
That's not a small gap. That's a franchise getting passed over again and again while expansion classmates get repeat invitations.
Rogers Centre isn't the outdated multipurpose stadium it used to be either. New seats, opened-up concourses, and additions like Park Social and the Corona Rooftop Patio have changed the entire feel of the building.
A new Hall of Excellence arrives at the end of August, and a long-overdue Joe Carter statue celebration happens later this week, both signs of a franchise finally leaning into its own history.
Is renovating a 37-year-old stadium enough to convince MLB to finally give Toronto its turn, or does the league keep finding reasons to push this further down the list?
At some point, the Blue Jays will need an entirely new home instead of a renovated one, and every year this drags on makes hosting Rogers Centre in its current form feel more and more like a missed opportunity.
Should MLB commit to giving the Blue Jays an All-Star Game in the next few years?
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