A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
Welcome to our newest post series: the MSF QuickCast.
We know you’re busy, we know you’re on the go, and we know that attention spans on the web are short. MSF QuickCasts, quite simply, will be rants and raves about sports (and the occasional non-sports topic) that start and finish in less time than it takes to check your email.
That’s it. Quick, concise, and convenient. Like everything on the web should be.
And I’m leading off with the first QuickCast today. The topic: the MLB All Star Game.
When you are an All-Star you are an All-Star for life. Alfredo Griffin and Kent Bottenfield may turn up only two hits in Google, but I assure you they say, “former All-Star” before their name.
For as many superstars bas aseball has, nothing showcases players with rare good seasons (in many cases half-seasons) than the All-Star game. Many of these “breakout” years amounted to nothing much in the end; that’s part of the reason I love the All-Star Game.
Heck, some of the players aren’t even all that good, but were merely the best players on their respective teams (which also probably were not that good) for one half of a season. For those who don’t know, MLB invites at least one player from every team, even if that team is a collection of complete bums. This has lead to a few more head scratchers.
So as much as I love baseball and the positive vibes the Derby and All Star Game carry, I want to have some fun remembering the worst All-Stars of the past decade. (Jerod is going to kick my ass as several White Sox grace this list.)
It shouldn’t have to come to this, but such is life with the screwed up and always controversial way that Major League Baseball selects its All Star rosters.
Paul Konerko – the ONLY player in the AL currently in the top 5 of all three Triple Crown categories – was NOT chosen as an All Star this year. There is not one person who doesn’t think, in the immortal words of Bob Knight, that such a snub is absolute fucking bullshit*.
Luckily, MLB does have a way to write egregious wrongs such as this.
I just posted about how Reds 1B Joey Votto was inexplicably left off the NL All Star team by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.
Well, Votto wasn’t the only player with Midwest ties who got bent over when the rosters were announced today. Paul Konerko and Alex Rios of the Chicago White Sox also have legitimate beef with Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
At least Konerko still has a shot to make the team; Rios, however, will see perhaps the greatest half season of his career go unrecognized. That’s BS.
My sports-obsessed nostalgia and curiosity has kicked in again with this year’s MLB All Star Game. Â If you remember, I used to do a lot of “history” posts in which I’d break down the all-time results of a big game or tournament, or research different records and things of that sort. Â With football and basketball over, and baseball in the dog days of its summer season, there haven’t been too many events to delve into with such detail.
That is, until this week, when the sports world stops to celebrate the biggest and brightest stars of our national pastime.
Certainly, the All Star Game has lost some of the luster that it had when my dad was younger. Â Back in those days (at least according to the legends I’ve been told) you typically saw one or maybe a couple of games per week, and most of these nationally televised games involved the Yankees. Â This was before the Internet, before the MLB Network, before Baseball Tonight, before fantasy baseball, before cable, etc. Â Thus, baseball fans like my then-Yankees-obsessed dad (we’ve slowly but surely split his allegiances between the Yankees and White Sox…or so he makes us think) had far, far fewer opportunities to watch and build fan relationships with the stars of their day than we do. Â Sure, he was able to watch #7 on the weekends, and probably got to see a fair amount of Willie Mays and other stars in the big markets, but the All Star Game was really the only the time when you could see all of the best players in baseball in one place on one night. Â That is a major part of what made the All Star game such an incredible event.
Today, all we have to do is watch the MLB Network for a half hour at night and there’s a good chance we’ll see nearly every superstar in the game take an AB. Â Seriously. Â (That’s why the MLB Network is awesome!) Â And while this is great, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, there is no chance that the All Star Game could maintain it’s old school magic in the new school era.
CHICAGO - JULY 6, 1933: Babe Ruth crosses home plate as teammate Lou Gehrig waits to congratulate him during the first inaugural All-Star game at Comiskey Park. (Photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
But with all that said, I still love watching it.  And I love looking back on the history of what is unequivocally the greatest All Star game of them all.  So for today’s post, that’s what I am doing.  At the bottom of the post, you’ll see a table that lists the results of every All Star Game since its inception in 1933. (It’s a big table, so I didn’t want to break up the text of this post by listing it here.)
The first cool bit of information I learned this morning (at least for a good guy who wears black like me)Â that I did not know previously: glorious Comiskey Park is actually the cradle of the Midsummer Classic, as it held the first MLB All Star Game in 1933 as part of the World’s Fair in Chicago. Notice how they didn’t have the first All Star Game in decrepit, puke-worthy Wrigley Field. Â (Suck it bleacher bums.)
One of the common refrains we will hear tonight during the telecast, and that we’ve heard all week, is how the AL dominates the NL in the All Star Game. Â The American League has not lost an All Star Game since the 1996 game in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, going 11-0-1 in the last 12 contests. Â But the AL’s reign goes back even further than that, as the Junior Circuit also won six in a row from 1988 to 1993 after a short three-game streak by the NL. Â So the AL is 17-3-1 in the last 21 All Star Games.
But here’s the rub: the National League still holds the all-time advantage at 41-36-2, meaning the NL went 38-19-1 from 1933 to 1987 with the following dominant streaks of their own:
For whatever reason, the last four decades of All Star Games have seen one league dominate for long periods of time. Prior to 1963, the longest winning streak by either league was four and it happened only twice: NL 1950-1953; AL 1946-1949. Â Something else I did not know: from 1959-1962 there were two All Star Games played each year, a format that was attempted but obviously was quickly changed.
In summation, it will be important for self-righteous AL fans (like myself) to remember that the AL’s decade of dominance still has not erased the gargantuan lead that the NL developed during the 60s and 70s. Â But if the AL can hold on and keep winning until 2013, they’ll be able to even out the all-time series.
Now that we’ve discussed the all-time records and win streaks by league in the All Star Game’s history, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting individual records and achievements in the history of the Midsummer Classic. (All stats courtesy of Baseball Almanac.)
All Star Game Individual Records: Career Hitting
Sluggers Stan Musial and Ted Williams pose together before a 1950's All Star game.
All Star Game Individual Records: Single Game Hitting
So, if you’re scoring at home, Ted Williams pretty much had the greatest All Star Game ever for a hitter in 1946. Â He had 4 hits, 2 home runs, scored 4 runs, drove in 5, and also set the single-game record with 10 total bases.
Another interesting note: five players have led off an All Star with a home run: Lou Boudreau, Frankie Frisch, Willie Mays, Joe Morgan, and, of course, Bo Jackson.
Now let’s turn our attention towards the hurlers.
All Star Game Individual Records: Career Pitching
All Star Game Individual Records: Single Game Pitching
Other Interesting All Star Game Records
Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron stand together for a victory portrait after the 1961 All-Star Game in San Francisco. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)
So that should be pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about individual performances for a career and in a single game in All Star history. Â If you want to get more granular and look at the stats for individual All Star games, follow the link to the All Star Game index at Baseball-Reference.com. Â There, you can view the box score for any game.
And finally, as promised, below is the table with the all-time list of All Star Game results and year-by-year winners.
Enjoy the game tonight everyone. Â (And go AL! Â The White Sox are going to need home field advantage when they shock the world and make it to the World Series…)
| Year | All Star Game Ballpark | All Star Game Winner | All Star Game Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Chase Field (ARZ) | ||
| 2010 | Angel Stadium (LAA) | ||
| 2009 | Busch Stadium (STL) | ??? | ??? |
| 2008 | Yankee Stadium (NY) | AL | 4-3 |
| 2007 | AT&T Park (SF) | AL | 5-4 |
| 2006 | PNC Park (PIT) | AL | 3-2 |
| 2005 | Comerica Park (DET) | AL | 7-5 |
| 2004 | Minute Maid Park (HOU) | AL | 9-4 |
| 2003 | U.S. Cellular Field (CHI) | AL | 7-6 |
| 2002 | Miller Park (MIL) | Tie | 7-7 |
| 2001 | SAFECO Field (SEA) | AL | 4-1 |
| 2000 | Turner Field (ATL) | AL | 6-3 |
| 1999 | Fenway Park (BOS) | AL | 4-1 |
| 1998 | Coors Field (COL) | AL | 13-8 |
| 1997 | Jacobs Field (CLE) | AL | 3-1 |
| 1996 | Veterans Stadium (PHI) | NL | 6-0 |
| 1995 | The Ballpark at Arlington (TEX) | NL | 3-2 |
| 1994 | Three Rivers Stadium (PIT) | NL | 8-7 |
| 1993 | Oriole Park at Camden Yards (BAL) | AL | 9-3 |
| 1992 | Jack Murphy Stadium (SD) | AL | 13-6 |
| 1991 | SkyDome (TOR) | AL | 4-2 |
| 1990 | Wrigley Field (CHI) | AL | 2-0 |
| 1989 | Anaheim Stadium (LAA) | AL | 5-3 |
| 1988 | Riverfront Stadium (CIN) | AL | 2-1 |
| 1987 | Oakland-Alameda County Stadium (OAK) | NL | 2-0 |
| 1986 | Astrodome (HOU) | AL | 3-2 |
| 1985 | Metrodome (MIN) | NL | 6-1 |
| 1984 | Candlestick Park (SF) | NL | 3-1 |
| 1983 | Comiskey Park (CHI) | AL | 13-3 |
| 1982 | Olympic Stadium (MON) | NL | 4-1 |
| 1981 | Municipal Stadium (CLE) | NL | 5-4 |
| 1980 | Dodger Stadium (LAD) | NL | 4-2 |
| 1979 | Kingdome (SEA) | NL | 7-6 |
| 1978 | San Diego Stadium (SD) | NL | 7-3 |
| 1977 | Yankee Stadium (NY) | NL | 7-6 |
| 1976 | Veterans Stadium (PHI) | NL | 7-1 |
| 1975 | County Stadium (MIL) | NL | 6-3 |
| 1974 | Three Rivers Stadium (PIT) | NL | 7-2 |
| 1973 | Royals Stadium (KC) | NL | 7-1 |
| 1972 | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (ATL) | NL | 4-3 |
| 1971 | Tiger Stadium (DET) | AL | 6-4 |
| 1970 | Riverfront Stadium (CIN) | NL | 5-4 |
| 1969 | RFK Memorial Stadium (D.C.) | NL | 9-3 |
| 1968 | Astrodome (HOU) | NL | 1-0 |
| 1967 | Anaheim Stadium (Anaheim, CA) | NL | 2-1 |
| 1966 | Busch Memorial Stadium (STL) | NL | 2-1 |
| 1965 | Metropolitan Stadium (Bloomington, MN) | NL | 6-5 |
| 1964 | Shea Stadium (NYM) | NL | 7-4 |
| 1963 | Municipal Stadium (CLE) | NL | 5-3 |
| 1962 | Wrigley Field (CHI) | AL | 9-4 |
| 1962 | D.C. Stadium (D.C.) | NL | 3-1 |
| 1961 | Fenway Park (BOS) | Tie | 1-1 |
| 1961 | Candlestick Park (SF) | NL | 5-4 |
| 1960 | Yankee Stadium (NYY) | NL | 6-0 |
| 1960 | Municipal Stadium (KC) | NL | 5-3 |
| 1959 | Memorial Coliseum (LA) | AL | 5-3 |
| 1959 | Forbes Field (PIT) | NL | 5-4 |
| 1958 | Memorial Stadium (BAL) | AL | 4-3 |
| 1957 | Sportsman's Park (STL) | AL | 6-5 |
| 1956 | Griffith Stadium (Washington) | NL | 7-3 |
| 1955 | County Stadium (MIL) | NL | 6-5 |
| 1954 | Municipal Stadium (CLE) | AL | 11-9 |
| 1953 | Crosley Field (CIN) | NL | 5-1 |
| 1952 | Shibe Park (PHI) | NL | 3-2 |
| 1951 | Briggs Stadium (DET) | NL | 8-3 |
| 1950 | Comiskey Park (CHI) | NL | 4-3 |
| 1949 | Ebbets Field (Brooklyn) | AL | 11-7 |
| 1948 | Sportsman's Park (STL) | AL | 5-2 |
| 1947 | Wrigley Field (CHI) | AL | 2-1 |
| 1946 | Fenway Park (BOS) | AL | 12-0 |
| 1945 | No All Star Game | ||
| 1944 | Forbes Field (PIT) | NL | 7-1 |
| 1943 | Shibe Park (PHI) | AL | 5-3 |
| 1942 | Polo Grounds (NY) | AL | 3-1 |
| 1941 | Briggs Stadium (DET) | AL | 7-5 |
| 1940 | Sportsman's Park (STL) | NL | 4-0 |
| 1939 | Yankee Stadium (NYY) | AL | 3-1 |
| 1938 | Crosley Field (CIN) | NL | 4-1 |
| 1937 | Griffith Stadium (WAS) | AL | 8-3 |
| 1936 | Braves Field (BOS) | NL | 4-3 |
| 1935 | Municipal Stadium (CLE) | AL | 4-1 |
| 1934 | Polo Grounds (NY) | AL | 9-7 |
| 1933 | Comiskey Park (CHI) | AL | 4-2 |
**********
* – Babe Ruth / Lou Gehrig photo found at: Legacy.com
* – Stan Musial / Ted Williams photo credit: ioffer.com
* – Roberto Clemente / Willie Mays / Hank Aaron photo credit: Achievement.org
The starting pitchers and lineups for the 2009 MLB All Star Game were announced earlier today. Â Before I bring you those, as well as some other great links from around the web today, here are the viewing particulars for tomorrow’s All Star Game:
And now, the starting pitchers and lineups, courtesy of ESPN.com:
American League Starting Pitcher and Lineup:
National League Starting Pitcher and Lineup:
And here are a few of my own quick-hit predictions:
And now, some links from around the sports blogosphere from some of my friends who do this blogging thing a hell of a lot better than me:
15 extremely painful looking PARKOUR accidents — (Hail Mary Jane)
Marisa Miller gets naked in GQ for real this time — (The World According to MoonDog)
Some comic relief: Archie and the whores — (GadJunk)
How To: Pick up a woman — (Straight Pinkie)
The Cowboys may actually have a chance this season (Romo-Jessica break up) — (Dallas Sports Fans)
A history of big white stiffs for the Mavericks — (Dallas Sports Fans)
Kobe: You ‘aint dunking on me at my camp — (You Been Blinded)
Do hitters decline after the Home Run Derby? — (Hardball Times)
The average All-Star makes less than the average Yankee — (Bugs and Cranks)
Matt Bush has seen better days (like when he wasn’t crying like a baby while being arrested) — (Josh Q. Public)
It’s on: Cliff Lee v Eric Wedge — (Waiting for Next Year)
