At a meeting of the three
Triple-A leagues of
Minor League Baseball in 1986,
International League (IL) president
Harold Cooper proposed establishing committees to find ways to improve their product. One result was the creation of the Triple-A All-Star Game. In August 1987, the
American Association (AA), International League, and
Pacific Coast League (PCL) announced plans to begin holding joint all-star games in 1988 which would occur the day after the annual
Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The first was to be played at
Pilot Field in
Buffalo, New York, home to the IL's
Buffalo Bisons. The host city would then alternate annually between cities in each Triple-A league. in
Buffalo, New York, in 1988. Due to the odd number of leagues, it was decided that one team would be made up of All-Stars from
American League (AL) affiliates and the other of players from
National League (NL) affiliates, with each Triple-A team having at least one representative. Starting players were elected by voters in each Triple-A city, while reserve players were chosen by a committee of the three league presidents and representatives from
Baseball America, which sponsored the game. At the inaugural Triple-A All-Star game on July 13, 1988, in Buffalo, the AL All-Stars defeated the NL team, 2–1, before a sellout crowd of 19,500 people and a national television audience watching on
ESPN.
Ed Jurak (
Tacoma Tigers, PCL) was selected as the first Triple-A All-Star Game Most Valuable Player after leading off the top of the ninth inning with a
triple and then scoring the winning
run on
Bob Geren's (
Columbus Clippers, IL)
ground out. The AL-versus-NL format continued to be used through the 1997 Triple-A All-Star Game. In the final game to utilize this format, the AL affiliates defeated the NL affiliates, 5–3, at
Sec Taylor Stadium in
Des Moines, Iowa, home to the AA's
Iowa Cubs, on July 9, 1997. So in 1998, the teams were reorganized so that one consisted of International League All-Stars and the other of Pacific Coast League All-Stars. The first IL versus PCL match-up occurred on July 8, 1998, at
Harbor Park in
Norfolk, Virginia, home of the IL's
Norfolk Tides, with the IL team winning, 8–4. This changed in 2017, when home team status began being awarded to the team from the league which hosted the championship game. The most recent edition of the Triple-A All-Star Game was played on July 10, 2019, at
Southwest University Park in
El Paso, Texas, home to the PCL's
El Paso Chihuahuas. The PCL won, 9–3, before 9,706 in attendance and a national television audience on
MLB Network. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. This resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 game, which had been slated for
PNC Field in
Moosic, Pennsylvania, home of the IL's
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. In conjunction with
Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the IL and PCL disbanded, and Triple-A teams were reorganized into the
Triple-A East and
Triple-A West.
Opening Day for the 2021 season was postponed for nearly a month to temporarily eliminate commercial air travel and give players the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before the season started. While the 2021 schedule originally included a three-day All-Star break, this was removed after the delayed start. The 2021 Triple-A All-Star Game, scheduled to be held at the
Dell Diamond in
Round Rock, Texas, home to the Triple-A West's
Round Rock Express, was postponed and not rescheduled. In 2022, the Triple-A East and West were renamed the International League and Pacific Coast League, respectively, and they carried on the history of those leagues prior to reorganization. The 2022 Triple-A schedule included a four-day All-Star break from July 18–21, but there has been no indication that the All-Star Game will resume. == Structure ==