The next Major League Baseball All-Star Game is in Philadelphia. Today, the Phillies, MLB, and the city unveiled the 2026 MLB All-Star Game logo at an event themed ‘Philadelphia’s 2026 All-Star Declaration’ at Dilworth Park. Cool! 2026 is also the 250th anniversary of the United States’ declaration of independence, AKA America’s semiquincentennial, or America250. You may have heard. Also cool, especially if you’re the patriotic type. And we are.
So next Independence Day—July 4th, 2026, the 1776 Declaration of Independence anniversary, and America’s 250th birthday are all kind of a big deal. It’s great to see the league and Rawlings are making next year’s Midsummer Classic extra special to celebrate the milestone.
They kicked off year-long celebrations with the logo unveiling. It’s a great emblem; we’ll talk about it plenty next season. But they’ve also unveiled All-Star Game baseballs. And that’s purposefully plural… on purpose. Because there were 2 Rawlings Official ROMLB game balls dropped today. The beautiful, in my opinion, 2026 Rawlings ROMLB-ASG baseball, for one. We knew it was coming. We did not know it was spectacular. But MLB and Rawlings have also surprised fans with a rare game ball that will be used in play tonight by the Phillies and Angels at Citizens Bank Park. For now, we only have official artwork and our own mockups:
First, this All-Star Game ball is fantastic. I’ll wait until we have these in-hand and properly photographed for a deep-dive review. But I can’t not love that Liberty Bell logo. And bright cherry red stamping? It really shines, especially after the 2025 Atlanta All-Star Game dud.
So what’s with that red-laced, navy blue ink stamped ball? It also features the 2026 ASG logo on the south/bottom panel. It says 2026 on the league panel, but it’s being used tonight, in 2025? Amazing! Now that’s how you celebrate an All-Star Game logo unveiling—with a commemorative game ball celebrating the official All-Star Game baseball and logo unveiling! And it’s going to be a real on-field gamer? Amazing, again. Let’s leave it at that for now, more come once we have both of these baseballs imaged and posted in the Museum of Baseballs.
Your 2026 MLB All-Star Game & 2025 Philly ASG Declaration Baseballs!
Oh, did I mention there’s going to be a New York Mets David Wright Number Retirement Baseball used in the Mets game tomorrow (Saturday, July 19). Wanna see it? Please sign up for our emails first. We only send content updates, and we may even offer sweet deals and discounts on official merchandise some day!
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Okay I have a few thoughts here. First, I agree that the cherry red stamping is great. The logo is overall very well done, but keep in mind the liberty bell was also used on the 1996 All Star logo. I would have preferred a different logo to have played on the semiquincentennial theme, but realistically nobody remembers 1996. Second, I love the red laced-blue stamped version. Reminds me of the BP versions of the 22,23,24 ASG baseballs. The most exciting news in my opinion is that they are using the red laced version in a game. Could this potentially start a pattern to bring back the All Star Game “Stadium Versions” used by host teams from 1997 to 2000? My final thought is the multi-colored laces would have looked great if they used red and white instead of red and blue as actually the Phillies use very little blue. However, I completely understand since the red and blue is needed for the patriotic effect.
Spot on with the All-Star BP Practice ball comparison. When this design was described to me before it was public, they mentioned it’s similar to current ASG BP baseballs. I believe the blue-stamped version has a slightly smaller logo than the 2026 ASG baseballs. Now my only concern is they’ll use the exact same ball as their 2026 ASG practice balls, which would greatly diminish the distinctiveness of this limited, one-time use 2025 game ball. I hope MLB and Rawlings make some changes to the BP variant next season, even if a simple text addition/subtle tweak.
(continued) I would love to see a return of the “All-Star Game Edition” team/stadium baseballs! Great recollection! Those were awesome and should have been an annual event ball for decades – they were far too short-lived. Re: red/white stitching: yes. I’ve been burnt out on red/blue for years except those instances where it’s just the perfect combo. This might be one of them! But red and white would make much more sense for Philly. And would maybe look even better… The 2004 Houston ASG ball with red/white lace and red ink is one of my all-time favorites.
The 2004 Houston ASG ball was definitely a success. The only other time that lace combination was used was 2011 Arizona, although didn’t look as good with black stamping.