El Paso Chihuahuas pursuing hosting Triple-A All-Star Game as soon as possible

The El Paso Chihuahuas front office has made it clear this week that they are pursuing the possibility of hosting the Triple-A All-Star Game in El Paso sometime in the next few years.

“The Chihuahuas have expressed an immediate interest in hosting that game as soon as we can get it,” Chihuahuas general manager Brad Taylor told ABC-7.

Taylor made no bones about the Chihuahuas wanting to host a future all-star game at Southwest University Park.

“We think the town deserves it,” Taylor said. “The people that have supported this and grown to love this, we want to get that game here as soon as we can.”

The Chihuahuas expect to surpass the one million mark in fans at the Downtown ballpark this weekend.

“Obviously there’s others that are always in the mix and in the queue,” Taylor said. “But we have made our intentions very clear to Triple-A baseball and Minor League Baseball that we wanna host that game as soon as possible.”

The Triple-A All-Star Game alternates between the Pacific Coast League and International League.

Since the game was in the PCL city of Omaha this year, the next opportunity for El Paso to host the game would be in July of 2017.

The site for that game has yet to be announced.

“I don’t really know where that falls right now,” Taylor said when asked if hosting in 2017 was still a possibility. “But I can tell you again, there is a queue to some things and you never know what’s gonna change in the order but our interest in hosting it sooner than later is top of mind.”

PCL President Branch Rickey told the Fresno Bee recently he has contacted two PCL franchises about hosting the 2019 all-star game.

ABC-7 asked Rickey if El Paso was one of the two teams contacted but he declined to name the two teams.

“I think you can probably figure out the math on that and again we have made our interest in having that game very well known,” Taylor said when asked if the Chihuahuas were contacted about hosting in 2019. “We’re willing to do anything to bring this town the top level athletes and performers it deserves to see here at this ballpark.”

Charlotte’s BB&T Ballpark, which opened in March 2014, will host the Triple-A All-Star Game in 2016.

“In choosing Charlotte and BB&T Ballpark for hosting the Triple-A All-Star Game, the International League and the Pacific Coast League continue a tradition of showcasing our newest and finest facilities,” Rickey said in a statement last year. “Coupled with the Knights’ first-class operation and the terrific support shown by their fans, this choice is a win in every aspect. What a great opportunity for the IL and PCL to showcase our stars of the future.”