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	Busch Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Managers	Casey Stengel (NYY) Walter Alston (BKN)
Attendance	30,693
Ceremonial 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 Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League. The game was marked by controversy surrounding Cincinnati Redlegs 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, no fewer than 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, a record that still stands. The only non-Redleg elected for the National League was St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Stan Musial, who had only narrowly beaten his Reds counterpart George Crowe. Although Cincinnati had the second-best offense in the majors (they would score 747 runs that year, surpassed only by Milwaukee), most baseball observers felt they obviously did not deserve seven starters in the All-Star Game.

An investigation was launched by Commissioner Ford Frick, which found that the majority of the ballots cast had come from Cincinnati; in fact, The Cincinnati Times-Star newspaper had printed up pre-marked ballots with the Cincinnati starting lineup on them, and distributed them with each day's paper to make it easy for Redlegs fans to vote often for their favorite players. Meanwhile, Burger Beer, a Redlegs sponsor, had printed 250,000 similar ballots and distributed them to local bars, and stories emerged of bartenders refusing to serve alcohol to customers until they filled out a ballot.

Subsequently, Frick suspended fans' voting rights, and appointed Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves to substitute for Bell and Post. Bell was kept as a reserve (he would bat for Redlegs teammate Robinson in the seventh and slap a two-RBI double), while Post was injured and would have been unable to play in any event. Hoak and McMillan were each dismissed from the game after a single at-bat, in favor of future Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks, respectively. Temple batted twice before giving way to another future Cooperstown resident, Red Schoendienst. (Bailey caught the whole game, but was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the ninth.)

Managers, players, and coaches picked the teams until fan voting rights were restored in 1970. To avoid a repeat of this incident, MLB officials evenly distributed the 26 million ballots for that year to 75,000 retail outlets and 150 minor and major league stadiums, while a special panel was also created to review the voting.

Despite these (and other subsequent) measures, teams and media outlets still tell fans to vote for their favorite players instead of the best players; while the voting for the All-Star Game has remained a popularity contest, it is to a lesser extent than in 1957.

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	Redlegs	2
1B	Stan Musial	Cardinals	14
2B	Johnny Temple	Redlegs	2
3B	Don Hoak	Redlegs	1
SS	Roy McMillan	Redlegs	2
OF	Hank Aaron	Braves	3
OF	Willie Mays	Giants	4
OF	Frank Robinson	Redlegs	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	Redlegs	4
OF	Gino Cimoli	Dodgers	1
OF	Wally Moon	Cardinals	1

Game

Umpires

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

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

Tuesday, July 9, 1957 1:30 pm (CT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri

Team	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
WP: Jim Bunning (1–0)   LP: Curt Simmons (0–1)   Sv: Bob Grim (1)

External links

• Baseball Almanac