Game of the Century
…few were able to out-dazzle southpaw pitcher Carl Hubbell.
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis
At the time it was billed as the “Game of the Century”, but later it became the All-Star game. The idea of using the best players from each league was the brainstorm of Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward as a special attraction for the 1933 Chicago’s Century of Progress exposition, and would be a one-time event. Ward found opposition from the team owners who did not want their players to take a three-day hiatus during the middle of the summer, yet the executives finally agreed. The inaugural contest was played at the White Sox Comiskey Park on July 6, 1933.
The lineup was “suggested” by a newspaper poll although Philadelphia A’s 70-year-old owner-manager Connie Mack of the American League and recently retired John McGraw of the National League were free to choose their own 18-man roster. Exactly 47,595 fans packed the stadium to watch premier players perform including Charlie Gehringer, Jimmy Dykes, Sammy West, General Crowder, Ben Chapman, Joe Cronin, Rick Ferrell, Earl Averill, Al Simmons, Babe Ruth, Lefty Gomez, and Lefty Grove for the American League contingent. And across the field in the National League dugout were such luminaries as Bill Terry, Pepper Martin, Dick Bartell, Chick Hafey, Chuck Klein, Jimmie Wilson, Lon Warneke, Lefty O’Doul, Wild Bill Hallahan, Wally Berger, and Woody English. Fourteen of the 36 players plus the two skippers were eventually elected to the Hall of Fame.
Ruth, the greatest baseball draw of all time, was 38 when chosen for the game, and some critics said he washed up and selected only for “sentimental reasons”. They said, “I told you so” when Babe struck out in the first inning. In the third inning National League starter Hallahan walked Detroit’s Gehringer with Ruth waiting on deck. The Bambino quickly sent a shot into the right field seats for a two-run lead and the first home run in the long All-Star history. Ruth later made the catch of the day in the eighth when he caught up with a Chick Hafey drive to kill the last NL rally, and the game finished with an American League victory 4 to 2. The fading Ruth was also selected for the 1934 All-Star game, and the last year he ever played for the Yankees. He played in 28 games for the Boston Braves in 1935, and then was out of baseball.
Following the first All-Star game the fans demanded more and an annual game involving league superstars has continued to the present with the exception of the 1945 match-up due to World War II. The next “Game of the Century” held in 1934 also used an informal poll for helmsmen Bill Terry for the NL and Joe Cronin of the AL, but again they were not bound to any rules. Since then baseball has used various systems for player selections, and at the present time the fans do the voting.
There have been many memorable moments in the mid-summer spectacular, but few ever were able to out-dazzle New York Giant left-handed pitcher Carl Hubbell in the 1934 meeting when he struck out five future Hall of Famers in succession. King Carl was the MVP for 1933 when he won 23 games with a 1.66 ERA, and went on to win twenty or more games during the next four years becoming one of the dominant pitchers of the era. Hubbell had come up with Detroit with a new delivery called the butterfly or screwball, but Tiger manager Ty Cobb had no interest in the youngster or his unique pitcher and soon was on the way back to the minors. The New York Giants eventually heard about the Missouri native and took a chance that they never regretted.
The ’34 extravaganza was held at the New York Giants’ Polo Grounds, the home turf of the crafty Hubbell before 48,363 exuberant fans. Starter Hubbell gave up a single to leadoff batter Charlie Gehringer in the first inning, and then followed with a walk to Heinie Manush. With no outs and two on the home-town hero had to face Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx, three of the most powerful hitters of all baseball.
Hubbell later said that infielders Terry, Frisch, Traynor, and catcher Harnett came in to help in anyway, but “none of them could help me a darn bit…I knew I was going to have to get the ball over plate and give myself a chance.” Also know as the Meal Ticket Hubbell came out of the inning with no damage when he whiffed Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx in order. In the next inning the Giant pitcher continued with his stunning hurling by striking out both Simmons and Cronin before Bill Dickey singled. (Note the excellent trivial question.) As it is today pitchers could work no more than three innings, and in spite of Hubbell’s great twirling in the first and second the American League won 9-7.
Many believe that in the 1930’s and 1940’s baseball saw the greatest ballplayers of all time. The nine starting players in the 1934 American League’s All-Star lineup are all in the Hall of Fame, and only one player on the National League opening roster, center fielder Wally Berger of the Boston Braves, failed to make it to Cooperstown. Twenty-six of the 40 selected for the 1934 contest entered the Hall of Fame. It may never happen again.