MLB All-Star Game 2016: 5 most memorable All-Star Game performances

BOSTON, : American League starting pitcher Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox throws to the plate in the first inning of the 70th Baseball All-Star Game with the National League 13 July 1999 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.(ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Stephen JAFFE (Photo credit should read STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP/Getty Images)
BOSTON, : American League starting pitcher Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox throws to the plate in the first inning of the 70th Baseball All-Star Game with the National League 13 July 1999 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.(ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Stephen JAFFE (Photo credit should read STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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American baseball player Ted Williams (1918 – 2002) of the Boston Red Sox swings at a pitch during a game against the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland, Ohio, May 1954. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
American baseball player Ted Williams (1918 – 2002) of the Boston Red Sox swings at a pitch during a game against the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland, Ohio, May 1954. (Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) /

2. Ted Williams goes 4-4 in 1946

The 1946 All-Star Game was one of the countless examples of Williams’ brilliance at the plate, as he compiled the most impressive box score of any hitter in the history of the Midsummer Classic.

After the previous season brought the only cancellation of the All-Star Game in MLB history due to wartime travel restrictions, fans were surely looking for something exciting in 1946. How fitting that Williams, who interrupted his Hall of Fame career to serve in the Navy and Marine Corps, would go on to put together one of the best performances ever in front of a home crowd.

Williams came back from the three-year absence from baseball to post a 215 wRC+ with 11.8 WAR per FanGraphs, both career bests. The Splendid Splinter added a historical Midsummer Classic to his outstanding season with a memorable 4-4 performance.

After a walk in his first plate appearance, Williams reeled off four consecutive hits. Those four hits included two home runs, as Williams became the second player to hit multiple homers in a single All-Star Game at the time, joining Arky Vaughan five years earlier.

Only Joe Medwick in 1937 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970 have matched Williams’ four hits in a Midsummer Classic. Williams also drove in five runs, tying the mark for the most ever, contributing to his career record of 12 All-Star RBI.

Next: 1. Carl Hubbell strikes out five straight Hall of Famers