MLB All-Star Game 2015: 5 most memorable All-Star Games
By Will Osgood
1955
Few All-Star Games in history have been as tightly fought or as competitive as the 1955 game, played at Milwaukee Stadium. Remember this was well before the All-Star Game was supposed to “mean something” (not that it does now, I wrote earlier this week about why World Series home field advantage is a silly concept).
Players in 1955—which could rightly be called the golden era of baseball—were highly competitive just because it was in their jeans. When they took the field, they played to win. Granted, the All-Star Game was still an exhibition, but it was for league bragging rights at a time when there was no interleague play and no free agency, so league bragging rights actually meant something.
It’s the reason the National League continued to battle so fiercely when they got behind 5-0 early in the game. It’s the reason they were able to tie the game. It’s the reason Stan Musial was still in the game in the 12th inning, whereas today the game’s biggest superstars would be in the clubhouse or possibly headed for the airport to get back home for a day’s rest before starting the grind of the second half of the baseball season.
It’s why one of the most “clutch” moments in All-Star Game history played out the way it did, and why it is credited to Musial as one of his career accomplishments, though it ultimately meant little.
It’s why his home run to right field off Frank Sullivan is, and will always be, one of the greatest moments in MLB All-Star Game history.
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