" We wanted to see the Babe! Sure, he was old and had a big waistline, but that didn't make any difference. We were on the same field as...Babe Ruth!"
Bill Hallahan, National League starting pitcher
Going back in time, who hasn't entertained the thought at some point in their life...just one time...wouldn't that be an awesome experience!
For me, I would make a straight shot and grab a seat at...Comiskey Park in Chicago!
The Depression Era was in full force, and though the days were gloomy in certain aspects, there was a sports editor who came up with an idea!...to gather the "best of the best" and call it the "Game of the Century". Professional baseball...the very first All Star game!
During the 1920's baseball attendance was at an all-time high, but the Depression Era years between 1930-33 saw attendance decline 40%. Professional ballplayers themselves had seen their salaries drop 25% from the days of the "Roaring 20's".
Bleacher seats were now 50 cents, the rosters were smaller, and baseball owners were doing whatever they could to keep their teams financially afloat.
Promotions were common in 1933 including free admission for women ( most girls I date have no interest in baseball...being free admission wouldn't do anything for them...on the other hand, discounts on make-up,... or purses,... or clothes,... or shoes..."now we're talkin'" lol), grocery giveaways, and games were now being played at night for the first time.
Still...the first All-Star Game! The National League vs. the American League! It just doesn't get any better than that!
The "Chicago Idea" was this: the World's Fair was in progress during the summer of 1933 and Mayor Edward Kelly approached Col. Robert McCormick, the big publisher for the Chicago Tribune, on having an athletic event to run in conjunction with the World's Fair.
This is where Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune made his "entrance". He proposed an idea he coined "The Game of the Century" which would feature the best players from the American and National Leagues of professional baseball.
To add excitement, fans throughout the nation would be given opportunity to vote in their favorite ball players.
Arch Ward was so sure this idea would work he told Col. McCormick to take any financial loss he might incur from Ward's personal paychecks until the debt would be paid in full.
McCormick liked the idea Arch Ward had proposed and they presented the idea to the presidents of both the National and the American Leagues along with various owners of the baseball teams. They also put a stipulation that all proceeds would be designated to a charity for retired professional baseball players, to give a better image of baseball. Skeptics of the "game" often referred to the whole sport as a "game of decadence", and the "Game of the Century" might give some needed integrity to the game.
Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis approved the idea...and on July 6th, 1933, the first All-Star game took place...the home plate umpire yelling "Play Ball" to begin the historic moment!
And...it was a success! 47,595 fans packed into Comiskey Park in Chicago to see the game. Babe Ruth, the "Sultan of the Swat", had received the most votes by the fans at 100,000. Some of the other ball players there included Lefty Grove, Jimmy Foxx, Lou Gehrig ( I am a true-blue Dodger fan...but Gehrig is my all-time favorite ball player), Al Simmons, Pepper Martin, Carl Hubbel, and Joe Cronin. (Man...would that be awesome to see or what!)
The American League won the first All-Star game by the score of 4-2. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Babe Ruth hit a home run into the right field bleachers!
The "mid-summer" classic has become an annual event each year since (the only exception being in 1945 when the game was cancelled due to wartime travel restrictions).
"If you make them....they'll come." Field of Dreams
Bill Hallahan, National League starting pitcher
Going back in time, who hasn't entertained the thought at some point in their life...just one time...wouldn't that be an awesome experience!
For me, I would make a straight shot and grab a seat at...Comiskey Park in Chicago!
The Depression Era was in full force, and though the days were gloomy in certain aspects, there was a sports editor who came up with an idea!...to gather the "best of the best" and call it the "Game of the Century". Professional baseball...the very first All Star game!
During the 1920's baseball attendance was at an all-time high, but the Depression Era years between 1930-33 saw attendance decline 40%. Professional ballplayers themselves had seen their salaries drop 25% from the days of the "Roaring 20's".
Bleacher seats were now 50 cents, the rosters were smaller, and baseball owners were doing whatever they could to keep their teams financially afloat.
Promotions were common in 1933 including free admission for women ( most girls I date have no interest in baseball...being free admission wouldn't do anything for them...on the other hand, discounts on make-up,... or purses,... or clothes,... or shoes..."now we're talkin'" lol), grocery giveaways, and games were now being played at night for the first time.
Still...the first All-Star Game! The National League vs. the American League! It just doesn't get any better than that!
The "Chicago Idea" was this: the World's Fair was in progress during the summer of 1933 and Mayor Edward Kelly approached Col. Robert McCormick, the big publisher for the Chicago Tribune, on having an athletic event to run in conjunction with the World's Fair.
To add excitement, fans throughout the nation would be given opportunity to vote in their favorite ball players.
Arch Ward was so sure this idea would work he told Col. McCormick to take any financial loss he might incur from Ward's personal paychecks until the debt would be paid in full.
McCormick liked the idea Arch Ward had proposed and they presented the idea to the presidents of both the National and the American Leagues along with various owners of the baseball teams. They also put a stipulation that all proceeds would be designated to a charity for retired professional baseball players, to give a better image of baseball. Skeptics of the "game" often referred to the whole sport as a "game of decadence", and the "Game of the Century" might give some needed integrity to the game.
Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis approved the idea...and on July 6th, 1933, the first All-Star game took place...the home plate umpire yelling "Play Ball" to begin the historic moment!
And...it was a success! 47,595 fans packed into Comiskey Park in Chicago to see the game. Babe Ruth, the "Sultan of the Swat", had received the most votes by the fans at 100,000. Some of the other ball players there included Lefty Grove, Jimmy Foxx, Lou Gehrig ( I am a true-blue Dodger fan...but Gehrig is my all-time favorite ball player), Al Simmons, Pepper Martin, Carl Hubbel, and Joe Cronin. (Man...would that be awesome to see or what!)The American League won the first All-Star game by the score of 4-2. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Babe Ruth hit a home run into the right field bleachers!
"If you make them....they'll come." Field of Dreams
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