I’ve been in St. Louis since last week, and seen and felt the buildup for the All-Star Game — scheduled to start within the hour.

It’s a big deal here. Huge. The locals seem to assume that anybody who has arrived in the city since last Friday … must be here for the game.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch moved its coverage of the game to the A section this morning and the rest of the world news to an inside section. It’s pretty much the only topic anyone is talking about, and St. Louis is almost giddy that President Obama is in town — nearly as big a deal as the fact that Stan Musial is here, too.

And the game is in Anaheim next year, with the Angels as the host club.

I’m wondering if it will make the same waves in Orange County and environs.

For starters, I curious as to how well the Angels will stage all the Outside Events now associated with the game. The Fan Fest stuff, and the parades, etc. Pretty much have to have those, these days.

The bulk of that will go off at the Anaheim Convention Center, which isn’t exactly next door to Angel Stadium. It certainly isn’t within walking distance, like the events here in St. Loo were.

I’m sure the Angels will sell out the stadium, and the game will come off fine. The players probably would rather have a few free hours in SoCal than in St. Louis — though St. Louis’s central location had to be a help, in terms of the players’ ease in getting here.

What I would be concerned about, following St. Louis, is how big the game will be in the L.A./Orange County market. I fear it will be swallowed up by Daily Life in the SoCal metropolis. Which doesn’t mean we have our priorities out of whack, but may hurt the chances of the All-Star Game coming back to the Southland any time soon. Coming, as it will, right after St. Louis rolled out the red carpet and officially went ape over the game.

The last time the Angels had the game was 1989. Which is a while. Bo Jackson and Nolan Ryan played in that game. Yeah, a while ago.

Actually, the Angels are a little ahead of schedule, considering 20 years but 30 major-league teams …

The game hasn’t been in Dodger Stadium since 1980, and Los Angeles is one of the top half-dozen baseball markets. The last time it was in San Diego was 1992 — which was just as the stadium-building boom was beginning. That’s how the game has gone, pretty much, the last 20 years — to the oldest “new” stadium that hadn’t yet hosted the game. Aside from the Farewell to Yankee Stadium event last year. So, in theory, San Diego, with Petco, ought to get a shot soon. But maybe not if the game goes to Anaheim next year and most of us in SoCal find ourselves stifling yawns.

Anyway, going to be hard for Anaheim to match St. Louis’s enthusiasm.