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All-Star game coming to Anaheim in 2010

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Times Staff Writer

For the first time since Bo Jackson and Nolan Ryan graced Anaheim Stadium, the All-Star game is returning to Southern California.

The Angels have been awarded the 2010 All-Star game, with Commissioner Bud Selig scheduled to make the official announcement Wednesday at Angel Stadium, according to three sources not authorized to speak publicly in advance of the announcement.

The game is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, with a fan festival at the Anaheim Convention Center extending from the previous weekend through game day.

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The Angels and the city of Anaheim worked together to secure the All-Star game, even as the two sides prepared for another round in court.

Club executives and city leaders are scheduled to share the stage with Selig at Wednesday’s news conference. On June 20, the team and the city will face off in the state appellate court, in Anaheim’s latest and perhaps last challenge to the Angels’ 2005 name change.

The Dodgers are expected to be awarded the finals of next year’s World Baseball Classic, but Selig does not plan to make any announcement about the WBC while he is in town, according to the sources.

Dodger Stadium has not played host to the All-Star game since 1980, the only time it has been held there. The Dodgers have expressed interest in bringing the game back to Los Angeles, with 2013 a possible target. The Dodgers plan extensive renovations of the ballpark and surrounding area in advance of the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, in 2012.

The All-Star game was last played in Southern California in 1989, before a crowd of 64,036 at Anaheim Stadium.

The crowd remains the fourth-largest in All-Star game history, behind the three games played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which no longer exists. The Angels renovated and downsized their stadium after the NFL’s Rams left for St. Louis, with seating capacity now listed at 45,257.

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Jackson, a two-sport star who took a winter job as a running back for the Los Angeles Raiders, was the most valuable player of the 1989 game with a 448-foot home run. Ryan was the winning pitcher, 10 years after Angels General Manager Buzzie Bavasi chased him out of Anaheim and into free agency with the parting shot that he could replace Ryan with “two 8-7 pitchers.”

The American League won, 5-3, tagging the loss on John Smoltz, the only player who appeared in that game that remains active. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia was the backup catcher for the National League.

Anaheim Stadium also played host to the All-Star game in 1967. The National League won, 2-1, in 15 innings -- the most innings in All-Star history -- with Tony Perez hitting the game-winning home run off Catfish Hunter.

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre was the starting catcher for the National League. On that day, his teammates included Hall of Fame pitchers Juan Marichal, Ferguson Jenkins, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and Tom Seaver.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Seeing stars

Upcoming sites for baseball’s All-Star game:

2008: Yankee Stadium

2009: Busch Stadium

2010: Angel Stadium

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