Alright, everyone, here we go: the first annual All-Star Game in WBL history.
The game will open with
Dennis Martínez (Baltimore Black Sox) on the mound and
Tom Herr (Birmingham Black Barons) digging in at the plate. Herr is one of the feel-good stories of the year, starting the year at AAA and now the heart of a struggling Black Barons squad.
Herr slaps a hard ground ball towards right, but
Eddie Collins (Chicago American Giants) makes a nice diving stop. A good throw and Herr is out by a step to open the game. Martínez retired
Joe Mauer (Portland Sea Dogs) and
Reggie Jackson (San Francisco Sea Lions) for a scoreless opening half-inning.
Red Ruffing (New York Black Yankees) got the start for the NL, facing Collins, who fouled a few pitches off before sending Ruffing's seventh delivery into the left field stands for a 1-0 NL lead. Baltimore's
Bobby Wallace and Chicago's
Frank Thomas grounded out to
Jim Fregosi (Portland) at SS, but
Elrod Hendricks (House of David) drew a two-out walk before
Duffy Lewis (Chicago) flew out to center to end the inning.
Martínez came back out for the second inning, but gave up an infield single to
Babe Ruth (Black Yankees) and a soft liner into right to
Ron Blomberg (Cleveland Spiders). With the bullpen in full swing,
Kent Hrbek (Portland) flew out to right for the first out, with Ruth moving to third.
Bobby Murcer (Portland) would score Ruth with a sacrifice to left, tying the game.
Ruffing walked
Willie Mays (New York Gothams) to open the bottom of the second.
Hank Greenberg (Detroit Wolverines) replaced Mays at first on a fielder's choice, and scored when WBL RBI leader
Doug Radar (Los Angeles) launched a homerun. A single by
Joe Jackson (Chicago) chased Ruffing from the game, with Birmingham's
Tim Hudson taking his place on the mound. Hudson retired the next two batters, ending the threat with the AL up, 3-1.
The WBL leader in wins,
Gerrit Cole (Los Angeles), took the mound in the top of the 3rd and delivered a scoreless inning. Little of note--other than a ton of substitutions--happened until the top of the 4th, when
Lefty Grove (San Francisco) gave up hits to Greenberg (who was replaced at first by
Reggie Smith of the Memphis Red Sox) and
George Stone (House of David). That brought in Cleveland's
Cy Young, who retired Joe Jackson and Collins to close the inning.
The game was uneventful (again, other than the substitutions) until the bottom of the 6th, when
Ted Williams (Memphis) greeted
Don Drysedale (Brooklyn Royal Giants) with a leadoff homerun, making the score 4-1. Williams' teammate, Reggie Smith, followed with a single, but was left stranded.
The AL pitchers had allowed only 2 hits until, with one out in the top of the 7th,
Chuck Knoblauch doubled off of
Mark Melancon (Houston Colt 45's). After another out, Rolen walked and pinch-hitter
Johnny Bench (Indianapolis) doubled to left-center, scoring two to make the score 4-3.
With 2 outs in the bottom of the inning,
Curt Blefary (Baltimore) singled, with
Freddy Parent (Ottawa Mounties) pinch-running for him.
Dick Allen followed with a single, sending Parent to third.
Ron Reed relieved
Ken Howell and retired Williams to end the inning, so we went to the 8th with the AL leading, 4-3.
The AL turned to
Brian Wilson in the top of the 9th to close the game. He walked Knoblauch to lead off the inning, but got a flyout from
Eric Davis (Black Yankees) for the first out, bringing up his teammate, Mickey Mantle, for his first at-bat of the game. Mantle walked, and that was it for Wilson, who was replaced by
Mike Henneman (Detroit).
Henneman fanned Bench and got
Rickey Henderson to groundout, and the AL wins, 4-3.
The NL only managed 5 hits in the game, and only the AL's Blefary had 2 hits, with his teammate Radar's 2 RBI's the most seen on the day. That earned Radar the MVP award. Cole (who earned the victory), Reed, and
Craig Kimbrel were the most impressive pitchers on the day.
NL 3 (Ruffing 0-1) @ AL 4 (Cole 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv; Pettitte 1 H; Melancon 1 H; Kimbrel 1 H; Nichols 1 H; Wilson 1 H)
HRs: AL - Collins (1), Radar (1), Williams (1)
Box Score