Groundbreaking ceremony for Marlins new ballpark.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The Florida Marlins want to host baseball's all-star game in 2015.

Marlins president David Samson discussed the team's perspective during Saturday's FanFest and repeated his remarks Monday during a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

"We lost the game before we had a ballpark. Now that there is a ballpark, it is certainly is our expectation that the all-star game will be returned to Miami," Samson said Monday. "We look forward to that happening, and are very hopeful that it will be 2015."

The Marlins were awarded the 2000 all-star game in July 1995, but then-NL president Len Coleman took it away in November 1998 and gave it to the Atlanta Braves, saying the league wanted the game in new ballparks.

A US$515 million retractable-roof stadium on the former Orange Bowl site is slated to open for the 2012 season, when the team will be renamed the Miami Marlins.

Construction began last summer, and Samson said the ballpark is 22 per cent complete. The team sold more than 40,000 individual tickets for this season at Saturday's event.

The Los Angeles Angels host this year's all-star game and the Arizona Diamondbacks host in 2011. Baseball officials have said the 2012 host likely will be the Kansas City Royals, followed by the New York Mets in 2013.

The Minnesota Twins, who move into Target Field this year, hope to host in 2014. While 2014 is an American League year, the Chicago Cubs also have said they'd like to host that season to mark the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.