The Reds might pursue the 2006 All-Star Game if St. Louis has to give up the event, Reds chief operating officer John Allen said Wednesday.

        Commissioner Bud Selig had told the Cardinals they could host the game if a new stadium were built in time. That plan hit a major snag Friday when the Missouri legislature failed to approve a bill to finance a downtown St. Louis stadium. The Cardinals are scrambling for an alternative, but it probably will not be ready for the 2006 All-Star Game.

        The Reds open Great American Ball Park next season. When asked if the Reds would consider going after the 2006 event, Allen said he had not looked into the possibility but, “if the opportunity came up, we'd jump on it.”

        It looks as if the opportunity will be there. St. Louis never was formally awarded the 2006 All-Star Game, according to Major League Baseball spokesman Richard Levin.

        Baseball has granted the Cardinals more time to secure a stadium deal that would bring the All-Star Game to St. Louis in 2006, 40 years after the city's last one, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. William DeWitt, Cardinals chairman and general partner, said a suburban stadium might be ready in time, but probably not a downtown ballpark, the newspaper reported.

        The All-Star Game was held twice at Riverfront/Cinergy — in 1970 and 1988.

        “I wasn't around for those,” Allen said. “But it's a much bigger undertaking now.

        “It's not like you call MLB and say you want to do it.”

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