MLB ALL-STAR GAME HISTORY

Major League Baseball All-Star Game History |Baseball Almanac

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.

"They invented the All-Star Game forWillie Mays." - Hall of Famer & Nineteen Time All-StarTed Williams inCooperstown: A Novel (Eugena Pilek, Touchstone Publishers, 06/28/2005, Page 242)

On July 6, 1983,Fred Lynn came to bat in the third inning with the bases loaded againstAtlee Hammaker. The only All-Star grand slam in history was hit that moment and eight records were set.

Mickey Mantle (1954-1960),Joe Morgan (1970-1977) andDave Winfield (1982-1988) are the only three players in All-Star history to each bat safely in seven back-to-back All-Star games. TheCommerce Comet played in both the1960 All-Star Game and the1960 World Series, each of which was played in New York City, prompting baseball fan Tom Bowen to wonder how many times has a club hosted both an All-Star Game and World Series in the same year. His research found:

Stan Musial holds the All-Star record for most games as a pinch hitter with ten games (a record) and ten pinch-hit at-bats (another record)!