1. When does Fenway Park get another All-Star Game?

To coincide with the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026, Philadelphia will host the next All-Star Game.

According to several reports, Chicago’s Wrigley Field will be the site of the 2027 MLB All-Star Game, and San Francisco has been named as a potential host in ’28, as the Bay Area is a conveniently short flight away from Los Angeles, where Dodger Stadium will host Olympic baseball that summer. MLB and the players association are currently discussing the possibility of allowing players to compete.

Next up should absolutely be Fenway Park. 2029 will mark the 30th anniversary of their last time playing host, to a ‘99 All-Star Game that remains one of the most memorable, special, and iconic events in both Red Sox and MLB history.

As the last Midsummer Classic of Major League Baseball’s first century in existence, ’99 was about the past as much, if not more, than the present or future. Few moments in baseball history compare to the All-Century Team taking the field, capped off by an elderly Ted Williams riding in on a bullpen cart driven by Tony Gwynn, to partake in the ceremonial first pitch.

2029 could be a tremendous 30-year victory lap for American’s Most Beloved Ballpark, (especially if the home team can become a formidable contender again by then).

Less than two months after that magical summer night in ’99, the Detroit Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium, and Fenway, which opened the same day in April 1912, moved into sole possession of the title of MLB’s oldest ballpark. Five Octobers later, the Red Sox finally vanquished the demons that had kept them from baseball’s ultimate triumph for 86 years. Imagine sitting at Fenway in ’99 and telling someone that the Red Sox would win more championships in the next quarter-century than any other ball club.

But above all, Fenway is standing the test of time. The ’99 All-Star Game was a chance for all of baseball to say goodbye before the wrecking ball’s tour of forlorn ballfields made a seemingly inevitable stop in Boston.

Instead, this “lyric little bandbox of a ballpark,” as the late John Updike famously described it in recounting Williams’ final game for the Oct. 22, 1960, issue of The New Yorker, remains.

That deserves every celebration.

2. Did you know MLB used to have two All-Star Games per season?

If you’ve ever wondered how the great Henry ‘Hammerin’ Hank’ Aaron could be a 25-time All-Star in 21 of 23 career seasons, or how Ted Williams was a 19-time All-Star across 17 of his 19-year Red Sox career, this is the answer.

For four summers between 1959-63, MLB held two All-Star Games between mid-July and early August, an idea proposed by future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts as a way to raise money for the players’ pension fund.

Though the two-fer was short-lived, it made some positive short- and long-term impacts during a period of enormous change for the league. It helped equitably spread baseball around the country, which had endured five team relocations between the end of the ’52 season, when the Braves bid farewell to Boston, and Opening Day in ’58, then the Giants and Dodgers introduced big-league baseball to California. It was also an extra interleague game, exclusive to All-Star and the World Series at the time.

3. Do you ever think about the ballparks you’ll never get to see?

While we’re on the subject of ballparks, I’ve wanted to see Ebbets Field ever since I did a book report on Jackie Robinson in elementary school. I also grew up hearing about the splendor of the Polo Grounds from my grandmother, who grew up attending games with her older brothers and remains furious with the Giants for leaving New York.

During my two seasons covering the Phillies, I became fascinated with the rise and fall of Shibe Park, the long-ago home of the Philadelphia A’s (and later, the Phillies), and the league’s first steel-and-concrete ballpark. In photos after the 1971 fires, Shibe’s corner tower and its cupola, where famed A’s manager and owner Connie Mack once made his office, stand tall among the charred remnants of happier days. Five years later, the last vestiges of what was once one of the crown jewels of baseball were razed while Phillies hosted the 1976 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium.

Perhaps the saga of Shibe and the nomadic A’s hits home because it could have been Boston baseball’s story, too. When fires ravaged Fenway’s left-field grandstands in 1926, cash-strapped owner Bob Quinn didn’t repair the damage. Without Tom Yawkey purchasing the struggling team and repairing the ballpark – at the height of the Great Depression, of all times – who knows where the Red Sox would be today.

Now, back to the present, and more pressing matters…

4. Why is the first inning kryptonite for this starting rotation?

If you think first innings have been brutal for the Red Sox, your eye test is showing 20/20 vision.

Their 6.32 ERA in the first is their highest single-inning mark this season by far, and ranked 29th among the 30 MLB clubs entering Thursday. It’s also the fifth-worst first-inning ERA in franchise history, only outdone by 2012, 1931, 1925, and 1932, when Red Sox arms pitched to a still-record 7.73 ERA.

Remove Garrett Crochet (2.14) and Brennan Bernardino (one scoreless opener appearance) from the equation, and Brayan Bello, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Walker Buehler, Sean Newcomb, Lucas Giolito and Tanner Houck have a combined 7.69 ERA in the first inning.

With the exception of the fourth (4.76), the pitching staff owns a sub-4.00 ERA in every inning this year. The impact of these early setbacks has been brutal, though. The Red Sox are 17-35 when opponents score first, including 13-24 when they fail to pitch a scoreless opening frame; only the Rockies, White Sox, and Diamondbacks have lost more in such situations.

Unsurprisingly, starting pitching is at the top of chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s trade deadline shopping list.

5. No offense?

The Red Sox staved off a Phillies sweep with their 9-8 extra-inning victory in Wednesday’s finale, but they also went 2-4 and batted .190 with a .599 OPS on this post-All-Star break road trip.

The Boston bats had to contend with far stingier pitching staffs than the Nationals, Rockies, and Rays, whom they bested during their 10-game winning streak before the break. The Red Sox scored a combined four runs over the losses, including getting shut out by the Cubs on Saturday, and a one-run complete game by Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday. Yet they had opportunities. They left 18 men on base over the road trip, including going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight in Philadelphia on Monday night.

If Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto hadn’t lost sight of Rob Refsnyder’s sky-high pop-up in the fifth inning Wednesday, the Red Sox may never have scored at all.

6. Should the Sox trade an outfielder?

Manager Alex Cora is currently juggling a slightly overcrowded outfield contingent – Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder, Masataka Yoshida – and the Red Sox are listening to offers.

7. Will this be another second-half collapse year for the Red Sox?

Let’s hope not.