When an MLB team gets word that it’s going to host the All-Star Game, it’s met with excitement from the franchise, fan base and greater region. In reality, it should be met with horror — kind of like when an NFL team is told that it’s going to be the subject of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” or when Kylo Ren told Rey that she was a Palpatine.
Anyway, the Atlanta Braves host tonight’s 2025 MLB All-Star Game (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), and with the team 42-53, they’re on pace to become the 12th club in 13 seasons – there was no All-Star Game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – to host the Midsummer Classic and miss the playoffs.
Here’s evidence of the curse.
The 2012 season wasn’t a low point or a surprisingly dark year for the Royals, by any means. But it was still one that saw Kansas City post a losing record (72-90) for a ninth consecutive season.
The 2013 season was the fifth of six losing seasons for the Mets. To boot, star third baseman David Wright missed extensive time post-All-Star break due to a hamstring strain, and it ultimately became the beginning of the end for the two-time Gold Glover’s status as one of the premier players in the sport, as injuries perpetually got in his way over the next five years.
The 2014 season marked the fourth consecutive year that the Twins finished with a losing record, and long-time manager Ron Gardenhire was shown the door after 13 seasons in the dugout. Minnesota missed the playoffs in each of the next two years, as well.
Cincinnati made the playoffs in both 2012 and 2013, but it followed those seasons with a 76-86 campaign in 2014 and a mere 64-win 2015, when it last hosted the All-Star Game. The Reds then shipped star right-hander Johnny Cueto to the Royals at the trade deadline, with Cueto then helping Kansas City win the World Series. The Reds then traded third baseman Todd Frazier, a 2014 and 2015 All-Star who won the 2015 Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. The Reds haven’t won a playoff game since 2012.
San Diego continued the trend in 2016. Going 68-94, the Padres missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season and posted their lowest win total since winning just 63 games in 2008.
The Marlins hosted the All-Star Game and finished with 77 wins. Then, they decided to essentially trade every All-Star-caliber player on their roster: Miami dealt 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, fellow star outfielders Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna and infielder Dee Gordon the following offseason. One year later, the Marlins traded star catcher J.T. Realmuto. In case you were wondering, the Marlins missed the playoffs in 2018, too.
After winning the NL East in four of the past six seasons and making the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history (2016-17), the Nationals missed the playoffs when they hosted the All-Star Game in 2018. Then, homegrown star Bryce Harper bolted D.C. for the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason. Granted, the Nationals won the 2019 World Series. Still, Washington continued the trend by missing the playoffs and lost its then-franchise player before then.
Cleveland was as good as any team in the sport for three seasons from 2016 through 2018, winning the 2016 AL pennant, an AL-best 102 games in 2017 and claiming the AL Central division title in three consecutive seasons. Then, 2019 happened, and you guessed it: Cleveland missed the playoffs despite winning 93 games. Two offseasons later, the Guardians traded star shortstop Francisco Lindor to the Mets.
The Rockies traded superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2020-21 offseason and then hosted the 2021 All-Star Game, in what became an otherwise quiet season. Finishing 74-87, Colorado missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season and hasn’t appeared in the postseason since 2018.
For the first time since the Arizona Diamondbacks did so in 2011, the team that hosted the MLB All-Star Game made the playoffs in 2022. Los Angeles went on to win 111 games in the regular season, the most by any MLB team since the Seattle Mariners won 116 games in 2001. But guess what happened? The Dodgers lost to the NL West rival Padres — who were playing without Fernando Tatis Jr. the entire season — in the NL Division Series in four games. So, even though the Dodgers made the postseason, they still faced a reckoning after hosting the Midsummer Classic.
In 2022, the Mariners made the playoffs for the first time since their aforementioned 116-win 2001 campaign. While they were swept by the Houston Astros in an eventful series — including a walk-off home run in Game 1 and an 18-inning Game 3 — the 2022 Mariners reinvigorated the Seattle fan base. Then, they missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and are currently clinging to the third AL wild-card seed for the 2025 playoffs at 51-45. What a coincidence!
In another instance of “you can’t make this up,” the Rangers missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, brought in Bruce Bochy to manage the team in 2023 and had an active offseason, which led to them winning the 2023 World Series, the first championship in franchise history. Want to take a wild guess at what happened next? The Rangers missed the playoffs in 2024 and have a losing record in 2025 (48-49).
2025 – Atlanta Braves
The Braves have made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons, highlighted by winning the 2021 World Series. Naturally, they host Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, are 9.5 games out of the No. 3 NL wild-card seed and stand in fourth place in the NL East.
Furthermore, 16 of the past 19 teams to host the MLB All-Star Game have missed the playoffs. If the Braves right the ship post-All-Star break, then perhaps it’s an exorcism at work. Until then, the All-Star Game host curse is alive and well. Denying reality only compounds the difficulty of changing it for the better.
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