Baseball’s biggest stars to walk red carpet at Independence Hall before the All-Star Game
MLB also announced on Tuesday that players on July 4 will wear uniforms with “stars and stripes-themed numbers” along with red, white, and blue caps to celebrate America's 250th birthday.
Move over George Washington, here comes Kyle Schwarber.
Major League Baseball will utilize Washington’s old stomping grounds at Independence Hall on July 14 for Schwarber and the rest of baseball’s big names — Bryce Harper? Shohei Ohtani? Aaron Judge? — to walk the red carpet on their way to Citizens Bank Park for the All-Star Game.
The league has turned the arrival to the game into an event as the red carpet show is aired on MLB Network. The event is free and open to the public. The players will be shuttled from Olde City to South Philly after they walk the carpet. The red-carpet show at Independence Hall is part of the league’s weekslong hat tip to America’s 250th birthday, which began Wednesday with a marketing campaign titled “For the People.”
» READ MORE: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino to play in 3-on-3 game during All-Star Week
“It speaks to the fact that baseball is something else and baseball brings Americans together in that way,” MLB chief marketing officer Uzma Rawn Dowler said. “We chose Philadelphia for a reason. We’re really excited that Independence Hall is going to be the backdrop and it will be a great opportunity for us to showcase our stars as they walk into what will be an epic All-Star Game.”
The league will mark the July 4 weekend with a slate of nationally televised games, including every game on July 5 airing on NBC, Peacock, or NBCSN. And players on July 4 will wear uniforms with “stars and stripes-themed numbers” along with red, white, and blue caps. The uniforms will be marked with the same USA 250 patch that was worn in the Super Bowl.
The Phillies will be in Kansas City on July 4 but fans can watch the game at the Delsea Drive-in in Vineland, N.J., as one of four drive-in theaters that MLB is using that day to show games before airing The Sandlot.
“When you think about what’s iconic to American summers, drive-ins come to mind,” Dowler said. “It’s something we felt like would be a really cool concept as July 4 falls over a weekend. It felt like it was a unique pairing to take the drive-in concept, have fans visit a market and be able to watch baseball games that day followed by an iconic baseball movie. Then we’ll have a fireworks show that evening to cap out the night.”
As the Phillies continue to seek more production out of the cleanup spot, Rhys Hoskins is coming back to town this weekend with the Cleveland Guardians. Hoskins sat down with "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss his role with the first-place Guardians, his legacy with the Phillies, and more. Watch here.
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