1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E American League 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 10 0 National League 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 9 1
Date	July 9, 1957
Venue	Sportsman's Park
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Managers	Casey Stengel (NYY) Walter Alston (BKN)
Attendance	30,693
First pitch	None
Television	NBC
TV announcers	Mel Allen and Al Helfer
Radio	NBC
Radio announcers	Bob Neal and Harry Caray

The 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 24th playing of the midseason exhibition baseball game between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 9, 1957 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League. The game was marked by controversy surrounding Cincinnati Reds fans stuffing the ballot box and electing all but one of their starting position players to the game. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 6–5.

Game summary

Six runs were scored in the final inning, three by each team, for an exciting ending as the American League eked out a 6-5 victory.

The game's scoring began in the second inning with a Mickey Mantle single, Ted Williams walk and Vic Wertz base hit, followed by walks to Yogi Berra and Harvey Kuenn that put the AL on top, 2-0. The score remained that way until the sixth, when a Moose Skowron double and Berra single made it 3-0.

Scoring twice in the seventh, the NL closed the gap with a two-run double by Gus Bell, pinch-hitting for Frank Robinson. In the ninth, the AL appeared to seal the victory with a two-run double by Al Kaline and RBI double by Minnie Miñoso for a 6-2 advantage.

Stan Musial walked and Willie Mays tripled to begin the bottom of the ninth. After Ernie Banks delivered a run-scoring single, with its lead trimmed to 6-5, the AL brought in Bob Grim to face pinch-hitter Gil Hodges, who lined out to left field to end the game.

Cincinnati voting controversy

When fan voting to determine the game's starters was completed, seven Cincinnati Redlegs players (Ed Bailey, Johnny Temple, Roy McMillan, Don Hoak, Frank Robinson, Gus Bell and Wally Post) had been elected to start in the All-Star Game; the only non-Redleg elected to start for the National League was St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Stan Musial. Most baseball observers agreed that while the Redlegs were known to be a great offensive team with many outstanding position players, they did not deserve seven starters in the All-Star Game.

An investigation launched by Commissioner Ford Frick found that over half of the ballots cast came from Cincinnati, with the Cincinnati Enquirer printing up pre-marked ballots and distributing them with the Sunday edition of the newspaper to make it easy for Redlegs fans to vote often for their favorite players, while stories emerged of bars in Cincinnati refusing to serve alcohol to customers until they filled out a ballot.

Frick appointed Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves to substitute for Bell and Post, and to strip the fans of their voting rights; Bell was kept as a reserve, while Post was injured and would have been unable to play in any event. Managers, players, and coaches picked the entire team until 1970, when the vote returned to the fans, and to avoid a repeat of this incident, MLB officials evenly distributed the 26 million ballots to 75,000 retail outlets and 150 minor and major league stadiums, while a special panel was also created to review the voting.

Rosters

Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

American League Starters Position Player Team All-Star Games P Jim Bunning Tigers 1 C Yogi Berra Yankees 10 1B Vic Wertz Indians 4 2B Nellie Fox White Sox 7 3B George Kell Orioles 10 SS Harvey Kuenn Tigers 5 OF Al Kaline Tigers 3 OF Mickey Mantle Yankees 6 OF Ted Williams Red Sox 14 Pitchers Position Player Team All-Star Games P Bob Grim Yankees 1 P Billy Loes Orioles 1 P Don Mossi Indians 1 P Billy Pierce White Sox 4 P Bobby Shantz Yankees 3 P Early Wynn Indians 3 Reserves Position Player Team All-Star Games C Elston Howard Yankees 1 C Gus Triandos Orioles 1 1B Moose Skowron Yankees 1 2B Bobby Richardson Yankees 1 3B Frank Malzone Red Sox 1 SS Joe DeMaestri Athletics 1 SS Gil McDougald Yankees 3 OF Charlie Maxwell Tigers 2 OF Minnie Miñoso White Sox 5 OF Roy Sievers Senators 2

National League Starters Position Player Team All-Star Games P Curt Simmons Phillies 3 C Ed Bailey Reds 2 1B Stan Musial Cardinals 14 2B Johnny Temple Reds 2 3B Don Hoak Reds 1 SS Roy McMillan Reds 2 OF Hank Aaron[1] Braves 3 OF Willie Mays[1] Giants 4 OF Frank Robinson Reds 2 Pitchers Position Player Team All-Star Games P Johnny Antonelli Giants 3 P Lew Burdette Braves 1 P Larry Jackson Cardinals 1 P Clem Labine Dodgers 2 P Jack Sanford Phillies 1 P Warren Spahn Braves 9 Reserves Position Player Team All-Star Games C Hank Foiles Pirates 1 C Hal Smith Cardinals 1 1B Gil Hodges Dodgers 8 2B Red Schoendienst Braves 10 3B Eddie Mathews Braves 4 SS Ernie Banks Cubs 3 SS Johnny Logan Braves 2 OF Gus Bell Reds 4 OF Gino Cimoli Dodgers 1 OF Wally Moon Cardinals 1

Game

Umpires

Home Plate	Larry Napp
First Base	Frank Dascoli
Second Base	Johnny Stevens
Third Base	Hal Dixon
Left Field	Nestor Chylak
Right Field	Stan Landes

Starting lineups

American League				National League
Order	Player	Team	Position	Order	Player	Team	Position
1	Harvey Kuenn	Tigers	SS	1	Johnny Temple	Reds	2B
2	Nellie Fox	White Sox	2B	2	Hank Aaron	Braves	RF
3	Al Kaline	Tigers	RF	3	Stan Musial	Cardinals	1B
4	Mickey Mantle	Yankees	CF	4	Willie Mays	Giants	CF
5	Ted Williams	Red Sox	LF	5	Ed Bailey	Reds	C
6	Vic Wertz	Indians	1B	6	Frank Robinson	Reds	LF
7	Yogi Berra	Yankees	C	7	Don Hoak	Reds	3B
8	George Kell	Orioles	3B	8	Roy McMillan	Reds	SS
9	Jim Bunning	Tigers	P	9	Curt Simmons	Phillies	P

Game summary

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
American	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	6	10	0
National	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	5	9	1
WP: Jim Bunning (1–0)   LP: Curt Simmons (0–1)

Footnotes and references

1. Commissioner Ford Frick named them to the starting lineup to replace Gus Bell and Wally Post.

External links

• Baseball Almanac