July 6, 1933, 80 years ago: The first All-Star Game in what would later be called Major League Baseball is held, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, home of the White Sox.
There had been baseball games with "all-star teams" before, usually as benefits for indigent former players, or for the families of players who fell victim to untimely deaths. The most notable of these was in Cleveland in 1911, for the family of the late Indians pitcher Addie Joss. But this was the first one sanctioned by official baseball.
The idea came from Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago had been incorporated as a city in 1833, 100 years before, and was hosting the Century of Progress World's Fair on the South Side. Mayor Edward J. Kelly had talked to Ward about the Tribune sponsoring a sporting event in connection with the Fair.
Since the Tribune Company owned a vast media network, including radio station WGN (named for what the Tribune liked to call itself, "The World's Greatest Newspaper") and, at the time, the New York Daily News, Ward saw to it that the 55 newspapers the Company owned printed ballots for fans to use to select the players for what he called "The Game of the Century."
The players were chosen. And so, on July 6, at Comiskey Park (larger than Wrigley Field on the North Side, home of the Chicago Cubs), the game was played.
The managers were Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics, already the winningest manager of all time, for the American League team; and, for the National League team, John McGraw, who had retired as manager of the New York Giants the previous season, due to ill health. (He died the following Winter.) In 1937, after the establishment of the Baseball Hall of Fame, they would become the 1st 2 managers elected to it.
The American League All-Stars wore their regular team uniforms:
* From the New York Yankees: Right fielder Babe Ruth, 1st baseman Lou Gehrig, left fielder Ben Chapman, pitcher Lefty Gomez, all starters; catcher Bill Dickey, 2nd baseman Tony Lazzeri.
* From the host Chicago White Sox: Starting center fielder Al Simmons, starting 3rd baseman Jimmy Dykes.
* From the Boston Red Sox: Starting catcher Rick Ferrell.
* From the Cleveland Indians: Pitchers Wes Ferrell (Rick's brother) and Oral Hildebrand, and outfielder Earl Averill.
* From the Detroit Tigers: Starting 2nd baseman Charlie Gehringer.
* From the Philadelphia Athletics: Pitcher Robert "Lefty" Grove and 1st baseman Jimmie Foxx.
* From the St. Louis Browns: Outfielder Sam West.
* From the Washington Senators: Starting shortstop Joe Cronin and pitcher Alvin "General" Crowder.
The National League All-Stars wore special uniforms for the game, saying, "NATIONAL LEAGUE," which they haven't done since:
* From the New York Giants: Starting 1st baseman Bill Terry, pitcher Carl Hubbell, pitcher Hal Schumacher, and outfielder Francis "Lefty" O'Doul.
* From the Brooklyn Dodgers: 2nd baseman Tony Cuccinello.
* From the Boston Braves: Starting center fielder Wally Berger.
* From the Chicago Cubs: Catcher Charles "Gabby" Hartnett, pitcher Lon Warneke, shortstop Woody English.
* From the Cincinnati Reds: Starting left fielder Charles "Chick" Hafey.
* From the Philadelphia Phillies: Starting right fielder Chuck Klein, starting shortstop Dick Bartell.
* From the Pittsburgh Pirates: 3rd baseman Hal "Pie" Traynor and outfielder Paul Waner.
* From the St. Louis Cardinals, all starters: Picher Bill Hallahan, catcher Jimmie Wilson, 2nd baseman Frankie Frisch and 3rd baseman John "Pepper" Martin.
The AL had 11 players go to the Hall of Fame: Ruth, Gehrig, Gomez, Dickey, Lazzeri, Simmons, Rick Ferrell, Gehringer, Grove, Foxx and Cronin. The NL had 8: Terry, Hubbell, Hartnett, Hafey, Klein, Traynor, Waner and Frisch. Total, 19.
The AL contributed umpires Bill Dinneen behind home plate and Bill McGowan at 2nd base; the NL, Bill Klem at 1st base and Cy Rigler at 3rd base. McGowan and Klem would be elected to the Hall of Fame.
A crowd of 47,595 paid to see the game. Graham McNamee and Hal Totten broadcast it on radio for NBC, and Pat Flanagan and Johnny O'Hara did so for CBS.
Top of the 1st inning: Martin grounded out to short. Frisch did the same. Klein lined out to short, so a busy inning for Cronin.
Bottom of the 1st: Chapman grounded to 3rd. Gehringer walked. Gehringer stole 2nd. Ruth was called out on strikes. Gehrig grounded out, 1st to pitcher.
Top of the 2nd: Hafey grounded to 2nd, and Gehringer, normally so sure a fielder that he was known as "The Mechanical Man," couldn't get a throw off in time, and Hafey had the game's 1st hit. Terry singled to left. Berger grounded to 3rd, and Dykes stepped on 3rd for the 1st out. He threw to 2nd, and Terry was out. But the triple play could not be completed. Bartell struck out swinging. Game still scoreless.
Bottom of the 2nd: Simmons flied to left. Dykes drew a walk. Cronin did the same. Ferrell flied to right. Gomez singles to center, scoring Dykes. This was a amazing, as Gomez was a notoriously poor hitter even by pitchers' standards. Late in life, he joked that he never broke a bat until he was 73 years old, and that was from backing the car out of the garage. Chapman grounded to short, causing a force play that eliminated Gomez at 2nd. AL 1, NL 0.
Top of the 3rd: Wilson grounded to 3rd. Hallahan flied to center. Martin popped to short.
Bottom of the 3rd: Gehringer walked. Ruth hit a home run, and it was fitting that he hit the 1st home run in All-Star Game history. Gehrig walked. Hallahan was removed, replaced by Warneke. Simmons grounded to short, for a double play. Dykes singled to left. Cronin flied to center. AL 3, NL 0.
Top of the 4th: Gomez out as pitcher, Crowder in. Frisch lined to center. Klein grounded to 1st, unassisted. Hafey hit a foul pop to 3rd.
Bottom of the 4th: Ferrell flied to right. Crowder grounded to 2nd. Chapman grounded to 3rd. AL 3, NL 0.
Top of the 5th: Terry grounded to 2nd. Berger grounded to short. Bartell hit a foul pop behind 1st, but Gehrig dropped it. Bartell hit another such pop, and, this time, Gehrig caught it.
Bottom of the 5th: Up until this point, American League baseballs were being used in the game. The switch was made to National League baseballs. Gehringer flied to center. Ruth singled to center. Gehrig struck out. Simmons singled to left. Dykes grounded to 2nd, for a force play that eliminated Simmons. AL 3, NL 0.
Top of the 6th: O'Doul batted for Wilson, and grounded to 2nd. Warneke tripled to right. Martin grounded to 3rd, and Warneke scored on the play. Frisch hit a home run. Klein singled. Hafey grounded to 3rd. AL 3, NL 2.
Bottom of the 6th: Hartnett now catching. Cronin singled to center. Ferrell bunted Cronin over to 2nd, 1st to 2nd. Averill batted for Crowder, and singled to center, scoring Cronin. Chapman bunted to 3rd and beat it out. Gehringer flied to right. AL 4, NL 2.
Top of the 7. Grove pitching. Terry singled to left. Berger grounded to short, forcing out Terry. Traynor batted for Bartell, and doubled to center. Hartnett struck out. English batted for Warneke, and flied to center. AL 4, NL 2.
Bottom of the 7th. English playing at short. Hubbell pitching. Gehrig walked. Simmons grounded to 3rd, for a force play that eliminated Gehrig. Dykes singled to left. Cronin hit a foul popup to 1st. Ferrell grounded to 2nd. AL 4, NL 2.
Top of the 8th: Martin was called out on strikes. Frisch beat out a grounder to 1st. Klein flied to center. Hafey hit one deep to right, but Ruth reached over the top of the wall to catch it. Had there been ESPN at the time, we would have spent the next 80 years talking about how Ruth was a great fielder, as well as the greatest hitter who ever lived.
Bottom of the 8th: Waner moved to right field. Grove grounded to 1st, unassisted. Chapman struck out. Gehringer lined to center. AL 4, NL 2.
Top of the 9th. Ruth came out of the game. Chapman moved to right. Simmons moved to left. West went to center. Terry grounded to 2nd. Berger lined to right. Cuccinello batted for Hubbell, and struck out swinging.
Ballgame over. The American League wins, 4-2. For the AL: 4 runs, 9 hits, 1 error, and 10 men left on base. For the NL: 2 runs, 8 hits, they played errorless baseball, and left 5 on base.
The game was such a success that Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis decided to make it an annual event. Since the Fair was scheduled for a 2nd year in 1934, Ward came up with another idea: The Chicago College All-Star Game, in which the best college football players of the previous season would face the defending NFL Champions at Soldier Field in Chicago. Since the defending Champions were the Chicago Bears, it was relatively easy. That tradition ended in 1976, but "the Midsummer Classic" continues.
Woody English was the last surviving player from this game, living until 1997, 64 years later.
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