Roberto Clemente
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In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win

In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win in the National League’s last three with 3 innings of one-hit, shutout ball. Friend’s performance plus home runs by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall – not to mention perennial All-Star luminary, Willie Mays, falling just a few feet shy of the cycle – pace the Senior Circuit to a 5 – 3 decision over its junior counterpart at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Albeit not affecting the game’s outcome, a somewhat splashy All-Star debut is made by Friend’s teammate, Roberto Clemente, if only on the wrong end of a circus catch. As readers nationwide will be shown and told by the Associated Press, Clemente’s sole at-bat results in a singularly loud out: “Many a batsman has ‘made his mark’ on the KC left field wall (note numerous dents), but the AL’s Jim Lemon pulled a spectacular catch to prevent Roberto Clemente’s long smash from adding another ‘scar’ in the 9th inning of Monday’s All-Star game.”

1959 All Star Game At Forbes Field features Aaron, Mays and Mathews (radio Broadcast)
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1959 All Star Game At Forbes Field features Aaron, Mays and Mathews (radio Broadcast)

At Forbes Field, Hank Aaron’s 8th-inning single ties the score and a triple hit by Willie Mays plates Aaron with the winning run in the 5 – 4 All-Star victory in the first of the two Mid-Summer Classics to be played during the season. Don Drysdale pitches perfect ball the first three innings.

Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than the fans, will vote on selections for the All-Star Game
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Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than the fans, will vote on selections for the All-Star Game

1958 – Commissioner Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than the fans, will vote on selections for the All-Star Game. The vote will not return to the fans until 1970, when Commissioner Bowie Kuhn reverses Frick’s action. The decision is a reaction to alleged ballot box stuffing by Cincinnati fans before last year’s All-Star Game.

minnie minoso
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At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the American League nips the National League, 6 – 5, in the 24th All-Star Game. Both teams score 3 in the 9th inning, but Minnie Minoso’s running catch with the bases loaded chokes off the NL’s last-half rally.

At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the American League nips the National League, 6 – 5, in the 24th All-Star Game. Both teams score 3 in the 9th inning, but Minnie Minoso’s running catch with the bases loaded chokes off the NL’s last-half rally.

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Cincinnati fans threaten to sue Commissioner Ford Frick unless Gus Bell, George Crowe and Wally Post are restored to the All-Star team. They finished first in the ballotting thanks to vote-stuffing by Cincinnati fans, ahead of more deserving players.

Cincinnati fans threaten to sue Commissioner Ford Frick unless Gus Bell, George Crowe and Wally Post are restored to the All-Star team. They finished first in the ballotting thanks to vote-stuffing by Cincinnati fans, ahead of more deserving players.

Ford Frick replaces 3 Reds in ballet stuffing scheme

Ford Frick replaces 3 Reds in ballet stuffing scheme

On June 28, 1957, Commissioner Ford Frick replaces three Cincinnati Reds on the National League’s All-Star team. Frick names Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron to replace Cincinnati’s Gus Bell, George Crowe and Wally Post in the starting lineup. Cincinnati fans had stuffed the ballot box, electing eight Reds to the All-Star Game starting…

Ken Boyer is greeted at the plate by his teammates after his grand slam in Game 4 of the World Series, Oct 11, 1964
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1956 All-Star Game

In the 1956 All-Star Game, Ken Boyer of the Cardinals makes three sparkling plays at 3B and gets 3 hits as the National League defeats the American League, 7 – 3. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Stan Musial all homer. Mays’s pinch-hit two-run home run off Whitey Ford is his 7th straight hit against the Yankee lefty.

Stan Musial hits a walk off homerun 1955 All Star Game
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Stan Musial hits a walk off all star game homerun in the 12th

At Milwaukee’s County Stadium, Stan Musial comes to bat in the bottom of 12th inning of a 5 – 5 All-Star deadlock. American League catcher Yogi Berra complains about his feet hurting and Musial tells him “Don’t worry, I’ll have you home in a minute”… then “the Man” hits a game-winning home run on the next pitch. The American League had taken a five-run lead on a three-run homer by Mickey Mantle off Robin Roberts, only to see the NL tie it. Braves P Gene Conley strikes out the side in the 12th to get credit for the win.

ward all star game
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July 9, 1955, the originator of the All-Star Game dies at the age of 58. Arch Ward

On July 9, 1955, the originator of the All-Star Game dies at the age of 58. Arch Ward, a Chicago writer and reporter, dies as he prepares to leave to cover his 22nd Midsummer Classic. Ward had initiated the idea for an All-Star Game, which began in 1933 as the “Game of the Century.”