Baseball has always been more than just a game. As John S. Bowman and Joel Zoss stated in The Pictorial History of Baseball “As part of the fabric of American culture, baseball is the common social ground between strangers, a world of possibilities and of chance, where ‘it’s never over till it’s over.'”
It is an American tradition rich in legends, folklore and history, a never-ending story where every game is a new nine-inning chapter and every player has the chance to be the hero. Through the years, every franchise has had its share of superstar players that stand out above the rest. They are the ones that bring the fans out to the ballpark and only one game brings them all together at once, The All-Star Game.
The first Major League All-Star Game was played on July 6, 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was initiated at the insistence of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, to coincide with the celebration of Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. For over seventy-three years, the “Midsummer Classic” has remained a fan favorite showcasing the top talent in baseball.
All-Star teams were originally selected by the managers and the fans for the 1933 and 1934 games. From 1935 through 1946, managers selected the entire team for each league. From 1947 to 1957, fans chose the team’s starters and the manager chose the pitchers and the remaining players. From 1958 through 1969, managers, players, and coaches made the All-Star Team selections. In 1970, the vote again returned to the fans for the selection of the starters for each team and remains there today.
On July 9, 1946, At Fenway Park in Boston Ted Williams, playing in the All-Star Game, homers on the famed blooper pitch thrown by Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Williams finishes the game with two home runs, two singles, and a record-setting five RBIs in the American League’s 12-0 win. With the AL up…
On July 10, 1945, the All-Star Game scheduled for Fenway Park is canceled because of travel restrictions imposed by World War II. Several teams do play inter-league exhibitions designed to raise money as part of the war effort. The All-Star Game will resume in 1946.
1944 – The West takes the 1944 East-West Game, 7 – 4, behind the Radcliffe brothers. Ted Radcliffe socks a two-run homer while Alec Radcliffe drives in two as well and flashes a good glove; the brothers combine for five hits.
At Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Phil Cavaretta sets an All-Star Game record by reaching base five consecutive times. The 27 year-old Cub first baseman’s triple, single, and three walks help the National League beat the Junior Circuit, 7-1.
July 13, 1943 – The American League edges the National League, 5 – 3, at Shibe Park in the first All-Star Game played under the lights. Bobby Doerr of the Red Sox is the hitting hero with a three-run homer off Mort Cooper in the 2nd inning. Vince DiMaggio of the Pirates has a single,…
1942 – Powered by first-inning home runs by Indians shortstop Lou Boudreau and Tigers first baseman Rudy York, the American League All-Stars defeats the National League at the Polo Grounds, 3 – 1. Mickey Owen also homers for the third run. He will not hit a single home run during the regular schedule. The game features the first and only starting sibling battery in All-Star history as losing pitcher Mort Cooper throws to backstop Walker Cooper, his brother.
On July 8, 1941, at Briggs Stadium, Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams, hitting .405 at the break, hits a dramatic two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, off Chicago Cubs P Claude Passeau giving the American League a 7-5 win in the All-Star Game. Williams’s 4 RBI are matched by National…
At the 1940 All-Star Game in Sportsman’s Park, five National League hurlers combine to throw the first shutout in All-Star history. Paul Derringer, Bucky Walters, Whit Wyatt, Larry French and Carl Hubbell three-hit the junior circuit, 4 – 0, with the help of Max West’s three-run homer.
With another Yankee-dominated lineup, the American League defeats the National League, 3 – 1, in the seventh All-Star Game, at Yankee Stadium. Cincinnati OF Ival Goodman fractures his shoulder diving for a ball.
The National League wins the sixth All-Star Game, 4 – 1, with the aid of fine pitching and four American League errors. Starter Johnny Vander Meer gets the win. Yankeeshurler Lefty Gomez is defeated for the first time in four All-Star starts. National League shortstop Leo Durocher becomes the first Dodger to start in an All-Star Game and gets a ‘bunt’ home run.
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