The 2010 MLB All Star Game
The 2010 MLB All Star Game
By Randy Williams
Baseball’s Midsummer Classic returns to Anaheim Tuesday for the third time since the All-Star Game began in 1933, but the event has changed quite a bit since the city first hosted the exhibition (in 1967 when the NL won in dramatic fashion on a Tony Perez home run in the 15th inning).
Situated not far from America’s show business capital, the 2010 version is filled with multifaceted entertainment events leading up to the game.
Like it was in 1989 for Anaheim’s second All-Star Game (where Bo Jackson’s monstrous lead off homer led the AL to a 5-3 victory), the popular Home Run Derby is back, but this time it is surrounded by a varied lineup of contests involving non-roster players as well.
In addition to the Fan Fest (first introduced in 1991 when Toronto was host) which includes memorabilia displays, loads of merchandise and interactive skills contests for the whole family, there is a JR. RBI tournament featuring eleven and twelve year-olds; a charity 5K run; a Futures Game of top young minor league prospects; a softball game featuring former All-Stars pitted against celebrities from the television, film, modeling and music industries; and in keeping with a showbiz flavor, a new wrinkle has been added to the day of the game.
Taking a page from the Academy Awards or a major Hollywood movie premiere, there will be an All-Star Red Carpet Show where marquee players like New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols will be paraded in open cars through Anaheim and into Disneyland finishing along Main Street USA before heading for the stadium.
All this glitz and glamour, including the league providing makeup and fashion experts for the players’ wives for their Red Carpet appearances, perhaps masks something a bit deeper concerning actual star power.
While purists will argue about the merits of using the game to determine home-field advantage in the World Series and since the 2002 embarrassing tie in Milwaukee the contest has remained competitive, a look at the rosters from each of the years that Anaheim has hosted the All Star Game is revealing in terms of the quantity of quality players, whether chosen by the fans or league.
Which Anaheim All-Star Game has had the greatest gathering of talent?
Yes some of the 2010 All-Stars are just building potential (Tim Lincecum) or are in the middle of, Hall of Fame careers (Derek Jeter), but it is highly doubtful they will match the crop of baseball greats that were part of the 1967 game or even 1989.
The All-Star game twenty-one years ago featured the following players who’d go on to the Hall of Fame: Mike Schmidt, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs and Nolan Ryan.
That is a pretty good nucleus, but even that star pool pales in quantity of quality to the 1967 group who gathered in Anaheim.
Baseball is a game of numbers and here is one that is most impressive. The 1967 National League All-Star roster alone included THIRTEEN future Hall of Famers!
Tony Perez hit the game-winning homer in the 1967 All-Star Game
From pitchers like Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Don Drysdale to infielders Tony Perez and Ernie Banks, the National League All-Stars-turned-Hall-of-Famers boasted a starting outfield of Hank Aaron, Lou Brock and Roberto Clemente leaving Willie Mays on the bench!
Anaheim's 1967 All-Star Game included future Hall of Famrs Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron
When you add Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Al Kaline, Rod Carew, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski and Mickey Mantle from the American League team of that year, in building a squad of the all-time Anaheim All Star team it would be easy to see that the majority would come from the city’s inaugural event. Any argument?
In the end however, by and large, relatively speaking, the game’s best are competing at the All-Star Game. And it is still important in terms of what it does for the sport as a wonderful way of showing off all that is good about baseball, right in the middle of the season.
Anaheim’s All-Star Lineups
2010 AL Starting Lineup 1989 AL Starting Lineup 1967 AL Starting Lineup
C Joe Mauer C Terry Steinbach C Bill Freehan
1B Justin Morneau 1B Mark McGwire 1B Harmon Killebrew
2B Robinson Cano 2B Julio Franco 2B Rod Carew
SS Derek Jeter SS Cal Ripken Jr SS Rico Petrocelli
3B Evan Longoria 3B Wade Boggs 3B Brooks Robinson
OF Josh Hamilton OF Bo Jackson OF Tony Conigliaro
OF Ichiro Suzuki OF Kirby Puckett OF Carl Yastrzemski
OF Vladimir Guerrero OF Ruben Sierra OF Tony Oliva
Reserves
C John Buck C Mickey Tettleton C Paul Casanova
C Victor Martinez 1B Don Mattingly C Andy Etchebarren
1B Miguel Cabrera 2B Steve Sax 1B Mickey Mantle
2B Dustin Pedroia 3B Gary Gaetti 1B Don Mincher
2B Ian Kinsler 3B Kelly Gruber 3B Max Alvis
2B Ty Wigginton SS Tony Fernandez SS Jim Fregosi
SS Elvis Andrus OF Jose Canseco SS Dick McAuliffe
3B Adrian Beltre OF Mike Greenwell OF Tommie Agee
3B Alex Rodriguez OF Devon White OF Al Kaline
OF Jose Bautista DH Jeffrey Leonard
OF Torii Hunter DH Harold Baines
OF Vernon Wells
DH David Ortiz
Pitchers
Clay Buchholz Chuck Finley Dean Chance
Trevor Cahill Mark Gubicza Al Downing
Fausto Carmona Mike Henneman Steve Hargan
Neftali Felix Doug Jones Joe Horlen
Phil Hughes Mike Moore Catfish Hunter
Cliff Lee Dan Plesac Jim Lonborg
Jon Lester Jeff Russell Jim McGlothlin
Andy Pettitte Nolan Ryan Gary Peters
David Price Greg Swindell
Mariano Rivera Dave Stewart
CC Sabathia
2010 NL Starting Lineup 1989 NL Starting Lineup 1967 NL Starting Lineup
C Yadier Molina C Benito Santiago C Joe Torre
1B Albert Pujols 1B Will Clark 1B Orlando Cepeda
2B Chase Utley 2B Ryne Sandberg 2B Bill Mazeroski
SS Hanley Ramirez SS Ozzie Smith SS Gene Alley
3B David Wright 3B Howard Johnson 3B Dick Allen
OF Ryan Braun OF Eric Davis OF Lou Brock
OF Andre Ethier OF Tony Gwynn OF Hank Aaron
OF Jason Heyward OF Kevin Mitchell OF Roberto Clemente
DH Pedro Guerrero
Reserves
C Brian McCann C Mike Sciosia C Tim McCarver
1B Adrian Gonzalez C Tom Haller
1B Ryan Howard 1B Glenn Davis 1B Ernie Banks
2B Brandon Phillips 2B Willie Randolph 2B Tommy Helms
2B Martin Prado 3B Bobby Bonilla 3B Tony Perez
SS Jose Reyes 3B Mike Schmidt OF Willie Mays
SS Troy Tulowitzki 3B Tim Wallach OF Pete Rose
3B Omar Infante SS Barry Larkin OF Rusty Staub
3B Scott Rolen OF Vince Coleman OF Jimmy Wynn
OF Michael Bourn OF Andre Dawson
OF Marlon Byrd OF Von Hayes
OF Corey Hart OF Darryl Strawberry
OF Matt Holliday
OF Chris Young
Pitchers
Heath Bell Rick Reuschel Bob Gibson
Jonathan Broxton Tim Burke Don Drysdale
Matt Capps Mark Davis Mike Cuellar
Chris Carpenter John Franco Ferguson Jenkins
Yovani Gallardo Orel Hershiser Tom Seaver
Roy Halladay Jay Howell Juan Marichal
Tim Hudson Mike Scott Denny Lemaster
Ubaldo Jimenez John Smoltz Claude Osteen
Josh Johnson Rick Sutcliffe Chris Short
Tim Lincecum Mitch Williams
Evan Meek
Arthur Rhodes
Adam Wainwright
Brian Wilson
