‘All your baseball cards came to life’: The night, 50 years ago, when 22 Hall of Famers played in an All-Star Game for the ages

“All your baseball cards came to life,” said Joe Torre, who started at third base for the National League team. “It was like walking into the Hall of Fame. You say, ‘Wow, all of these guys are all Hall of Famers.’ You’re still gaga over it.’‘

Eventually, 22 players and managers from that game would make it to Cooperstown, 17 would win an MVP and seven would earn a Cy Young, making this night perhaps the greatest collection of talent ever assembled on one field at one time in the history of baseball.

“I was in awe,’’ Torre said. “I was leading the league in hitting, but I was still overwhelmed.”

No other All-Star Game has featured 20 Hall of Fame players. Let all the names on this field on this one night sink in: Rod Carew, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Palmer, Johnny Bench, Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal and Roberto Clemente, who would sadly be there for the final time. The managers, the Orioles’ Earl Weaver and the Reds’ Sparky Anderson, are also in the Hall of Fame.

All-Star Game rosters: Who’s going to Coors?

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Elected starters
C: Salvador Perez (KC)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR)
2B: Marcus Semien (TOR)
3B: Rafael Devers (BOS)
SS: Xander Bogaerts (BOS)
OF: Mike Trout (LAA)*
OF: Aaron Judge (NYY)
OF: Teoscar Hernández (TOR)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAA)

Pitcher/Designated hitter
Shohei Ohtani

Reserves
C: Mike Zunino (TB)
2B: Jose Altuve (HOU)
SS: Bo Bichette (TOR)
SS: Carlos Correa (HOU)
1B: Matt Olson (OAK)
3B: José Ramírez (CLE)
1B: Jared Walsh (LAA)
OF: Michael Brantley (HOU)
OF: Joey Gallo (TEX)
OF: Adolis García (TEX)
OF: Cedric Mullins (BAL)
DH: J.D. Martinez (BOS)
DH: Nelson Cruz (MIN)

Starting Pitchers
RHP: Shane Bieber (CLE)*
RHP: Gerrit Cole (NYY)
RHP: Nathan Eovaldi (BOS)
RHP: Kyle Gibson (TEX)
LHP: Yusei Kikuchi (SEA)
RHP: Lance Lynn (CWS)
LHP: Carlos Rodón (CWS)

Relievers
RHP: Matt Barnes (BOS)
LHP: Aroldis Chapman (NYY)
RHP: Liam Hendriks (CWS)
RHP: Ryan Pressly (HOU)
LHP: Gregory Soto (DET)

• Your 2021 All-Stars by position

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Elected starters
C: Buster Posey (SF)
1B: Freddie Freeman (ATL)
2B: Adam Frazier (PIT)
3B: Nolan Arenado (STL)
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD)
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL)
OF: Nick Castellanos (CIN)
OF: Jesse Winker (CIN)

Reserves
C: J.T. Realmuto (PHI)
2B: Ozzie Albies (ATL)
3B: Kris Bryant (CHC)
SS: Brandon Crawford (SF)
2B: Jake Cronenworth (SD)
3B: Eduardo Escobar (ARI)
1B: Max Muncy (LAD)
SS: Trea Turner (WSH)
OF: Mookie Betts (LAD)
OF: Bryan Reynolds (PIT)
OF: Kyle Schwarber (WSH)*
OF: Juan Soto (WSH)
OF: Chris Taylor (LAD)

Starting pitchers
RHP: Corbin Burnes (MIL)
RHP: Yu Darvish (SD)
RHP: Jacob deGrom (NYM)
RHP: Kevin Gausman (SF)
RHP: Germán Márquez (COL)
LHP: Trevor Rogers (MIA)
RHP: Zack Wheeler (PHI)
RHP: Brandon Woodruff (MIL)

Relievers
LHP: Josh Hader (MIL)
RHP: Craig Kimbrel (CHC)
RHP: Mark Melancon (SD)
RHP: Alex Reyes (STL)

Here are your 2021 All-Star Game starters

AL

C Salvador Perez, KCR
1B Vladimir Guererro, Jr, TOR
2B Marcus Semien, TOR
SS Xander Bogaerts, BOS
3B Rafael Devers, BOS
OF Mike Trout, LAA
OF Aaron Judge, NYY
OF Teoscar Hernandez, TOR
DH Shohei Ohtani, LAA

NL

C Buster Posey, SFG
1B Freddie Freeman, ATL
2B Adam Frazier, PIT
SS Fernando Tatis, Jr. SDP
3B Nolan Arenado, STL
OF Ronald Acuna, Jr., ATL
OF Nick Castellanos, CIN
OF Jesse Winkler, CIN

Davey Martinez and the Nationals would have loved to take part in the All-Star Game. No one asked

Sub’ required.

The moment the Nationals won Game 4 over St. Louis to secure the NL pennant, manager Davey Martinez and his staff had locked up another long-cherished honor: managing the All-Star Game.

At least, that was the plan. Ever since 1934 — the second All-Star Game ever — when the Senators’ Joe Cronin faced off against Bill Terry of the New York Giants, the Midsummer Classic has been a managerial rematch of the previous year’s World Series. Except there was no All-Star Game last year, meaning Martinez and the Nationals have been overlooked.

Martinez told The Athletic Monday he has not been asked to participate in this year’s All-Star Game, as part of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ staff or otherwise. It’s disappointing, particularly given that his AL counterpart from that season — former Astros manager A.J. Hinch — was suspended for the 2020 season and stripped of the honor. (It was announced last January before the game was canceled that Astros manager Dusty Baker would have managed the American League team.)

“It’s unfortunate,” said Martinez, who said he has a lot of respect for Roberts and the Dodgers. “When I go back and think about the whole All-Star Game and everything, I think about the people who were affected by the (COVID-19) pandemic. For me, it would have been nice to be the manager. I would have loved it. But it was more to be with my coaching staff there as well. More power to everyone going to the All-Star Game this year. I would love to be there, but I would love to be there with my coaching staff.”

Here are finalists to start ‘21 All-Star Game

These were the five leading vote getters across MLB in Phase 1:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., TOR: 2,704,788 votes
Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL: 2,510,041 votes
Salvador Perez, KC: 2,150,968 votes
Mike Trout, LAA: 2,084,542 votes
Fernando Tatis Jr., SD: 2,052,642 votes
Vote totals have been reset for all players heading into Phase 2, and the Astros have the most representatives on the final ballot with seven, followed by the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Cubs with five each. Overall, 20 teams have at least one representative in Phase 2.

Phase 2 will last for four days, beginning at noon ET on Monday and concluding on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. At 9 p.m. ET on Thursday night, the starting teams will be announced during the 2021 Google MLB All-Star Starters Reveal on ESPN.

2021 MLB All-Star Game Uniforms Unveiled, Worn In-Game for First Time

Major League Baseball today unveiled the uniforms that players will be wearing during the 2021 All-Star Game to be held next month in Denver… and yes, I said “worn during” the All-Star Game. We’ll get to that bit of news after we take a look at the designs.

Despite the fact this game was relocated from Atlanta to Colorado at the last minute, they were still able to work in at least a few references to the game being hosted by the Colorado Rockies though it does seem that a few references to Atlanta may have been leftover when it comes to the colours chosen.

The New Era caps will be dark navy blue with each team’s logo on the crown re-coloured red, white, and blue, behind the logo is a purple star with a white mountain peak worked into each point of the star. The 2021 All-Star Game logo is on the right side:

Major League Baseball unveils its 2021 All-Star Game uniform. Navy blue #NewEra caps with purple mountains, white and navy blue #Nike jerseys… and yes, they will be worn DURING THE GAME. #MLB #Rockies

Story and a bunch of pics right here: https://t.co/cWy8jazrQN pic.twitter.com/xYrEO7uR9k

— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) June 24, 2021

MLB All-Star game to stay in Denver, judge rules

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, an appointee of former President Obama, ruled that the group did not have standing to sue, and that it is “not at all clear why it cares more about small businesses in Atlanta than small businesses in Denver,” according to Reuters.

JCN sued the MLB last week, arguing it should pay $100 million in damages to local businesses in Georgia as a result of moving the All-Star Game to Colorado.

Lawyers of the league said in a court filing on Monday that JCN didn’t provide any evidence for their claims and argued that the court shouldn’t waste their time on “political theatrics.”

Pro-business group files lawsuit against MLB for pulling All-Star Game from Atlanta

A pro-business group filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against Major League Baseball, claiming it had no right to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s restrictive voting law.

An Addison, Texas-based organization called Job Creators Network said “thousands of hard-working ordinary men and women in the Atlanta area” had been banking on proceeds from this year’s All-Star Game before: “Defendants took this all away in the blink of an eye.”...

The lawsuit even went as far as to invoke the Ku Klux Klan.

By moving the All-Star Game, defendants are violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 by hindering “Georgia’s duly elected government from ensuring equal protection of the laws,” according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs also claimed MLB and the union are running afoul of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 and guarantees the rights of all Americans following the end of slavery.

“This is the dumbest complaint I have ever read,” Jarvis told NBC News. “If this was turned in as a law school exam, you would have given it an F and counseled the student to find a different line of work.”

Coors Field expected host 2021 MLB All-Star Game, per report

The 2021 MLB All-Star Game is expected to be held in Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney. The game is scheduled for July 13.

MLB recently chose to pull the festivities from Truist Park in Atlanta as a gesture of protest over the recent passage of voting laws in Georgia. Those laws are widely perceived to be too restrictive and particularly burdensome toward Black voters. Coors Field previously hosted the All-Star Game in 1998.

MLBPA open to discuss pulling All-Star game out of Georgia after voting restrictions passed, chief says

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said players are ready to discuss moving the summer’s All-Star game out of Atlanta after the state legislature passed an election reform bill restricting voter access, the Boston Globe reported.

The 91st MLB All-Star game is scheduled for the Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park on July 13 and they’re planning to have full capacity.

Via Michael Silverman at the Boston Globe:

“Players are very much aware” of the Georgia voting bill, which places restrictions on voting accessibility that will make it particularly difficult for Black voters to reach the polls, said Tony Clark in an interview with the Globe. “As it relates to the All-Star Game, we have not had a conversation with the league on that issue – if there is an opportunity to, we would look forward to having that conversation.”

There’s precedent for moving an all-star game based on enacted legislation. The NBA moved its 2017 game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, following laws that limited anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.

EDIT: A reminder why I shut off the political threads. After receiving a few complaints, I’ve disabled commenting and have banned a couple posters. FYI, Jim.