MLB All-Star Game most memorable moments throughout history

FOX is the exclusive home of the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, which takes place Tuesday (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) in Arlington, Texas, home of the Rangers.

Before new memories are made this summer, here are some of the most memorable moments from the Midsummer Classic, in chronological order.

A historic debut (1933)

The first-ever MLB All-Star game came on July 6, 1933, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. A spectacle the likes of which no baseball fan had ever seen turned out to be even more historic than originally thought.

How’s that? Well, how about 16 future Hall of Famers appearing in the game?

With Hall of Famers galore, arguably the best one-two punch in MLB history, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, hit third and cleanup for the American League. Thanks to a home run from Ruth and three scoreless innings from his New York Yankees teammate Lefty Gomez, the AL got a 4-2 victory. A combined six pitchers appeared in the game for both teams. For perspective, a combined 20 pitchers appeared in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.

Ted Williams says “goodnight” (1941)

The NL took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and then Ted Williams happened.

After the AL got a run home in the inning, Williams came to the plate with two runners on and two out. Then, faced with a 2-1 count, Williams tattooed a pitch from Claude Passeau into the right field seats for a walk-off, three-run home run. 

Williams, who reached base three times (two hits and one walk), became the first player to hit a walk-off home run in the All-Star Game and is just one of three players to do so to date.

The evisceration (1946)

In 1946, the AL and NL got together for what still stands today as the largest win in All-Star Game history: a 12-0 AL win in Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

Fittingly, Ted Williams, arguably the greatest Red Sox of them all, finished the night a whopping 4-for-4, with two home runs, five RBIs and a walk. Bob Feller, Hal Newhouser and Jack Kramer each tossed three scoreless innings apiece. 

Elsewhere for the AL, Charlie Keller, Vern Stephens and Joe Gordon each drove in two runs. The NL finished with just three hits. This game was played after there was no AL vs. NL All-Star Game in 1945 due to World War II.

Cal Ripken Jr. goes back to short (2001)

The two-time AL MVP played shortstop for the majority of his MLB career, but he then moved to the hot corner down the homestretch with the Baltimore Orioles. That didn’t stop Ripken from getting one last rep at shortstop before it was all said and done, though.

In the middle of the 2001 All-Star Game, Ripken was at third, but then-shortstop Alex Rodriguez insisted on switching positions with him, allowing Ripken to play short the last time. The two relived the moment at last season’s All-Star Game.

Lost from that summer night in Seattle is Ripken hitting a home run and subsequently winning MVP honors. The 2001 season was Ripken’s last.

Precedent is set (2002)

The AL and NL took a 7-7 tie into extra innings in the 2002 MLB All-Star Game at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Who won? No one. After 11 innings, both teams used every available pitcher on their rosters, and Commissioner Bud Selig decided to call the game. 

As a result of the anticlimactic finish, MLB implemented that the winner of the All-Star Game decided which league would have home-field advantage in the World Series, a rule which stayed in place through 2016.

Regarding the highlights, Paul Konerko and Manny Ramirez each went 2-for-2 for the AL, while Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lowell and Damian Miller had two hits apiece for the NL.

The never-ending All-Star Game (2008)

The 2008 All-Star Game started with daylight and nearly ended with it, as well, as the AL and NL put on a 15-inning game in old Yankee Stadium in what was its last season in commission.

After six-and-a-half scoreless innings, Michael Young hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 15th, giving the AL a 4-3 victory. J.D. Drew was the MVP of the game, going 2-for-4, with two RBIs and a walk. Justin Morneau, who won the Home Run Derby the day before, also tallied two hits and scored on the game-winning sac fly.

This game is tied with the 1967 All-Star Game, which took place in Anaheim Stadium, for the longest MLB All-Star Game.

Enter Sandman — one last time (2013)

When Metallica plays, two things come to mind: “time to run through a wall” and “here comes Mo.”

In what was his final MLB season, Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless eighth inning in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and took home MVP honors. Rivera, who posted an MLB-record 652 saves, came out of the bullpen to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” in a non-Yankee Stadium setting one last time, doing so roughly a half-hour drive from Yankee Stadium — pretending that there isn’t New York City traffic to account for.

Ironically, Billy Wagner also walked out to “Enter Sandman” across his four seasons coming out of the bullpen for the Mets (2006-09), but “Enter Sandman” and Rivera are synonymous.

The streak ends (2023)

At first glance, a one-run win in an All-Star Game is insignificant. That said, this win marked the end of the AL’s nine-game winning streak in the Midsummer Classic, as the NL got a 3-2 victory.

Down 2-1 in the top of the eighth, Elias Diaz of the Colorado Rockies hit a two-run home run to give the NL a 3-2 lead, which they held on to despite the AL putting two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth. 

Diaz ultimately won MVP honors.

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