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The major league baseball All Star game is being played tonight, and the game is really a “Midsummer Classic”. Out of the four major league professional sports, baseball has the distinction of having its’ annual All Star game actually be a good representation of the way the sport is played in the regular season. The same thing can’t be said for the NHL, NBA and, after this past season’s 59-41 “flag football” exhibition in the Pro Bowl, certainly not the NFL. It got so bad in the NFL’s All Star game that commissioner Roger Goodell has threatened to just eliminate it in the future, a move the players are against.

Baseball’s All Star game has a long, historic tradition. For many years, the game was so popular that 2 All Star games were played each season. In recent years, it has become more than just an exhibition, since the league that wins gains more than just pride, they win home field advantage in the World Series for their representative. Here are my choices for the five most memorable MLB All Star game moments:

 

1. Carl Hubbell’s Impressive Pitching –  I normally only include entries on these lists of players I actually saw play, but this All Star Game feat has been legend for a long time and gets mentioned every year at All Star Game time. Hubbell, a New York Giant screwball-throwing southpaw pitching for the National League in 1934, struck out 5 future Hall of Famers in a row – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.

 

2. Fred Lynn’s Grand Slam –  baseball’s 50th Anniversary game, played at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1983, was a one-sided affair, with the American League winning 13-3. The highlight of the game was a historic moment turned in by Fred Lynn of the Angels, who hit the first, and still the only, grand slam home run in All Star Game history.

 

3. Reggie’s Long Blast – in the 1971 game, played in Detroit, a young Reggie Jackson, then playing for the Oakland A’s, hit a monster home run that hit a light standard on the roof of old Tiger Stadium. The shot was estimated at 520 feet, and became an early entry onto Reggie’s long list of memorable moments that would continue throughout his career. Two other sluggers of the era, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew, also homered in the game, which was also memorable since it was the last All Star appearance for the late Roberto Clemente.

 

4. Rose/Fosse Home Plate Collision –  nobody ever accused Pete Rose of not playing the game all-out, all the time, but there was a lot of controversy when he bowled over AL catcher Ray Fosse at home plate in the 1970 game in Cincinnati. Fosse wound up with a fractured and separated left shoulder, and was never the same again. Critics said the play was over-the-top for what amounts to an exhibition game, but, for the record, Fosse dropped the ball, allowing Rose to score the winning run.

 

5. Stan Musial’s Game-Winning Homer –  in the 1955 game in Milwaukee, the National League overcame a five-run deficit and won the game 6-5 in the bottom of the 12th inning on a walk-off home run by Stan “The Man” Musial. It was the greatest All Star moment for Musial, who was picked for the game 24 times in his career.