OK, one last post about the All*Star Game before I move on to different topics. The other day I looked at All*Star Games future (as opposed to the All*Star Futures Game) with my predicted sites for the next decade. Today, I'm going the other direction. I'm gonna have a little fun with All*Star Games past.
The All*Star Game MVP is an annual rite of summer, and it's actually a pretty prestigious award. Sure, there are the random winners who get a big pinch-hit RBI late in the game, but there are also plenty of Hall of Famers (both current and future) who've been named All*Star Game MVP. Only five men have won it twice, including Mike Trout, the only back-to-back winner, but the list of Hall of Famers who've never been All*Star MVP is just as loaded. Despite the fact that the NL won a staggering 19 times in 20 years, All*Star stalwarts of that era such as Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente and Pete Rose never took home the prize.
There are a bunch of other Hall of Famers who've never been All*Star Game MVP, but the reason for that makes a lot more sense. That's because for the first 30 years of the All*Star Game, they didn't present an MVP. The award wasn't inaugurated until the 1962 season.
So, in an attempt to rectify that, I'm going through and naming an unofficial All*Star Game MVP for each of the first 30 editions. The 31st All*Star Game, at Fenway Park in 1961, was a 1-1 tie that was called after nine innings due to rain, so, like the infamous 2002 tie in Milwaukee, I won't be naming an MVP for that one.
1933: Babe Ruth, Yankees (AL)-Went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (the first in All*Star Game history), as the AL won the inaugural event 4-2 in Chicago.
1934: Earl Averill, Indians (AL)-This game is best remembered for Carl Hubbell striking out five Hall of Famers in a row. But, the NL lost, so he's out. Instead, it's Earl Averill, who had an RBI triple and a two-run double in his first two at bats of the 9-7 AL win.
1935: Jimmie Foxx, Athletics (AL)-Talk about an easy one. Foxx hit a two-run homer in the first and finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the AL's 4-2 victory.
1936: Dizzy Dean, Cardinals (NL)-Dean was the winning pitcher, as the NL won the All*Star Game for the first time. He started the contest and tossed three no-hit innings, striking out three and walking two.
1937: Lou Gehrig, Yankees (AL)-Fun fact: after the AL lost for the first time in 1936, Yankees manager Joe McCarthy played his starting lineup the entire game in 1937. Jimmie Foxx, who pinch hit, was the only bench player used. So, despite Hank Greenberg being on the bench, Gehrig got four at-bats. He doubled, homered and had four RBIs in the 8-3 victory.
1938: Johnny Vander Meer, Reds (NL)-For the first time, it goes to a player from the home team, as well as one that isn't in the Hall of Fame. Vander Meer set the tone in the National League's 4-1 win with three scoreless innings on the mound. He did give up a hit, though, which is more than he did in his legendary consecutive no-hitters earlier that season. I think it's safe to say he had a good year in 1938.
1939: Bob Feller, Indians (AL)-Bob Feller came in with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning of a 3-1 AL lead. The first batter he faced, fellow Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan, grounded into a double play. Feller then tossed three more scoreless innings to earn the save (which wasn't an official stat yet) at Yankee Stadium.
1940: Max West, Braves (NL)-Another ridiculously easy call. The NL won 4-0 and West hit a three-run homer in the first inning. Since the NL had three right fielders on the roster and they all played (which wasn't common the All*Star Game at the time), that was his only at-bat of the game.
1941: Ted Williams, Red Sox (AL)-One of the most famous home runs in All*Star Game history was the three-run walk-off shot by Ted Williams in 1941. He also had an RBI double in the fourth that plated the game's first run. This was, of course, the season when Williams hit .406.
1942: Rudy York, Tigers (AL)-A lot of firsts in 1942. This was the first All*Star Game affected by the war, and the first played under the lights. The AL won 3-1, with all three runs coming in the top of the first, two of them on Rudy York's two-run homer.
1943: Bobby Doerr, Red Sox (AL)-Wartime rosters really started to take a hit in 1943, but the Hall of Fame Red Sox second baseman was still there. In the All*Star Game, he belted a three-run homer, as the AL won 5-3.
1944: Whitey Kurowski, Cardinals (NL)-Seven different players scored and six collected RBIs in the NL's 7-1 win. The only player with a pair of RBIs was Whitey Kurowski, who knocked a two-run double in the seventh.
1946: Ted Williams, Red Sox (AL)-Perhaps the single-greatest All*Star Game performance of all-time was turned in by Ted Williams in his home park in 1946. He went 4-for-4, belted two homers, and tallied five RBIs in a 12-0 AL blowout. This makes Williams an unofficial two-time MVP.
1947: Stan Spence, Senators (AL)-Williams had two more hits in 1947, but I'm giving the MVP honors to Washington's Stan Spence. He knocked in the game-winning run with a seventh-inning pinch-hit single.
1948: Vic Raschi, Yankees (AL)-Arguably the best All*Star Game performance ever for a pitcher. Raschi's two-run single in the fourth provided the go-ahead runs, and he was also the winning pitcher, tossing thee shutout innings in a 5-2 AL victory.
1949: Joe DiMaggio, Yankees (AL)-DiMaggio had two hits in the 1949 game at Ebbets Field, and each one drove in a run. He had an RBI single and scored in the first, then knocked a two-run double (with his brother, Dom, scoring one of the runs) in the sixth.
1950: Red Schoendienst, Cardinals (NL)-It was the first All*Star Game to go into extra innings, and Schoendienst was the hero. His home run leading off the 14th inning gave the NL a 4-3 victory.
1951: Gil Hodges, Dodgers (NL)-For the first time, the NL won consecutive All*Star Games. Brooklyn's Gil Hodges finished 2-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored in the 8-3 triumph.
1952: Hank Sauer, Cubs (NL)-Rain caused this one to be called after five innings. The AL took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth, but Sauer's two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning proved to be the difference in the 3-2 National League win.
1953: Pee Wee Reese, Dodgers (NL)-Four in a row for the National League! Leadoff man Reese had a pair of RBI hits, a single in the fifth and a double in the seventh, of the 5-1 win.
1954: Al Rosen, Indians (AL)-All Al Rosen did in the 1954 All*Star Game was hit consecutive home runs and tie Ted Williams' record with five RBIs. In his home park.
1955: Stan Musial, Cardinals (NL)-Right up there with the Ted Williams walk-off blast in 1941 was Stan Musial's walk-off shot in 1955. This one came in the 12th inning, as the NL overcame a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5.
1956: Willie Mays, Giants (NL)-He was the official All*Star Game MVP twice, and now you can add an unofficial honor to his resume. Mays hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the fourth and scored again in the seventh.
1957: Al Kaline, Tigers (AL)-Things got interesting at the end of the game in 1957. Kaline's two-run single in the top of the ninth increased the AL's lead to 6-2...only for the NL to put up a three-spot and get the tying run to second in the bottom of the ninth. The AL held on, though, so Kaline's single (his second hit of the game) gets him MVP honors.
1958: Billy O'Dell, Orioles (AL)-Nellie Fox had two hits, but I'm going with Billy O'Dell of the hometown Orioles. He entered a 4-3 game in the seventh and retired all nine batters he faced to close out the AL victory.
1959 (1st game): Willie Mays, Giants (NL)-Make that two unofficial to go with his two official ones. In the first year of the two-game experiment, Mays tripled home Hank Aaron for the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, as the NL took it 5-4.
1959 (2nd game): Yogi Berra, Yankees (AL)-A month later, the All*Stars got together again at the L.A. Coliseum, and this time the AL came out on top. Yogi's third-inning two-run homer made it 3-1 in a game the AL eventually won 5-3.
1960 (1st game): Ernie Banks, Cubs (NL)-Somebody was a homer short of the cycle, so it would be easy to pick him again. But Mr. Cub also had quite a game that day in Kansas City. He hit a two-run homer in the first, then doubled and scored in the third.
1960 (2nd game): Willie Mays, Giants (NL)-They literally got on a plane and played again at Yankee Stadium two days later. Mays got the home run he didn't hit in Kansas City. He also had a pair of singles, including one to lead off the game, and stole a base in the 6-0 National League win. If you're keeping track, this is now three unofficial All*Star Game MVPs to go along with the two he actually won.
1961 (1st game): Roberto Clemente, Pirates (NL)-Wanna guess whose double tied the game in the bottom of the 10th? Mays doesn't get another one in his home park, though. Because Clemente's RBI single two batters later drove him in and sent the NL home winners. Clemente also had a sac fly in the fourth knocking in...you guessed it! (Willie Mays was really good in the All*Star Game.)
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