An All-Star Assortment
What you may not know about the All-Star Game
Olde-tyme baseball by C. Philip Francis – July 1, 2005
Prologue: The 2005 All-Star Game will be held at Detroit’s Comerica Park on July 12th, the fourth time the game was scheduled to be played in the Motor City. In order to warm you up for the forthcoming game, here are some All-Star facts you may not know.
---The first ever all-star baseball game on record was held at Fashion Race Course on Long Island, New York in 1858 when the best ballplayers from New York beat the stars from Brooklyn 22-18. A second contest was won by Brooklyn 28-9, with a rubber game captured by New York over the favored Brooklyn nine. The first All-Star Game as we know it today was held at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933. The idea came from Arch Ward, sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, and was originally planned as a one-time exhibition with the greatest players from the two leagues meeting in a mid-summer game. At the age of thirty-eight, the fading Babe Ruth belted a two-run home run that helped the American League to a 4-2 victory, and Babe’s blast was the first home run in the mid-summer classic
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---The first All-Star Game held in Detroit was on July 8, 1941 at Briggs Stadium, later Tiger Stadium, and won by the American League 7-5. As the AL entered the last of the ninth they were down 5-3, and would face the Chicago Cubs’ ace right-hander Claude Passeau. After one run had scored Ted Williams hammered a three-run fast ball high over the right field stands giving the team a 7-5 victory. The ball would have gone out of the park, but it hit a light tower and bounced back.
The 1951 game was moved from Philadelphia to Detroit to help celebrate its 250th birthday, and although hometown heroes, Vic Wertz and George Kell, hit solo home runs, the NL went on to win the contest with a convincing 8-3 score.
Twenty-years later the All-Star Game was held at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium on July 13, 1971. After succumbing to eight consecutive years of defeats, the American League finally broke through by topping the older league 6-4. Six home runs were hit by six future Hall of Famers: Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, and Roberto Clemente.
---The 1937 All-Star Game was held at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. on July 7th. Lou Gehrig homered and doubled to drive in four runs in an easy American League victory 8-3. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in attendance to see Lefty Gomez win his third All-Star game, but the conflict was best remembered when Earl Averill’s third inning line drive fractured Dizzy Dean’ toe that led to an early end in his outstanding Hall of Fame career.
---In 1973 the new Royals Stadium in Kansas City was chosen to host the summer game held on July 24. The AL scored early, but six NL pitchers threw a shut-out ball the rest of the game winning 7-1. The AL could have used knuckleballer Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox who had already won 18 games by All-Star time (The most ever.), BUT WAS NOT SELECTED for the game – perhaps because he had lost 14 games at the break. Wilbur finished the season with a 24-20 record.
---Seldom is a rookie pitcher selected to an All-Star roster or even chosen as the starting pitcher. In 1976 Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers began the year in the bullpen, but when the pitching rotation began to disintegrate the 21-year old right-hander was asked to start a game against Cleveland. Fidrych threw a two-hitter that day, went on to win nine out of his next ten games, and then chosen to start the All-Star game played on July 13 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Tiger hurler gave up two runs in the first, and was the losing pitcher in a 7-1 National League romp.
Fidrych, who was called The Bird because of his resemblance to a Sesame Street character, finished the season with a record of 19 and 9, and won the Rookie of the Year award. Arm problems, however, limited him to just 10 wins in the next four years before he was gone.
In 1947 rookie Spec Shea of the New York Yankees was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on July 8. At that time there was only one Rookie of the Year award, and that went to Jackie Robinson. Shea’s season record of 14 and 5 helped the Yankees to another World Series. Against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Spec was the winner in Game One, and also in Game Five when he threw a four-hitter.
---The only player in both the AL and NL 1934 starting lineups who failed to make the Hall of Fame was Wally Berger of the Boston Braves. He hit 38 home runs in his first major league season, still a rookie home run record, and was in four All-Star games including the 1936 classic held in Braves Field. Although he was the only selection from his Boston team, Berger did not appear in the game held in his home ballpark.
---Joe DiMaggio was also chosen for the 1936 All-Star Game in his first year in the major leagues, but was certainly not a star. He went 0-for-5 and made an error, and played every inning for every All-Star game in a record seven straight seasons.
---Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson who spent his entire 23-year career with Baltimore appeared in 18 mid-summer contests, and was on the losing team for a record 15 times.
MORE ON VINTAGE BASEBALL: In a recent Chatter from the Dugout on vintage baseball The Mighty River Hogs of Midland, Michigan was mentioned. Tara Jane Kaminski, Communications Coordinator of the Midland Area (MI) Communication Foundation, emailed to report that the Mighty Hogs would be playing the Mount Clemens Regulars at the Chippewassee Park near the Tridge in downtown Midland on July 16 in a double-header from12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. All are welcome, it is free, and this is a chance to see your first vintage baseball game. You can get additional information on www.midlandfoundation.com or call: 1-800-906-9661.