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) /

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NEW YORK – 1937. Carl Hubbell, pitcher for the New York Giants. holds two baseballs in the dugout at the Polo Grounds in New York before a game in 1937. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /

1. Carl Hubbell strikes out five straight Hall of Famers

Finding the best-ever individual performance in an All-Star Game requires going all the way back to the second playing of the Midsummer Classic in 1934. As great as the performances from Williams and Martinez were, Hubbell accomplished a feat that we will surely never see again in baseball history.

Hubbell might be more recognized for the 1934 All-Star Game than his overall career, but he deserves credit as one of the top pitchers of the era. A Hall of Famer and nine-time All-Star, Hubbell won the 1933 MVP Award and led the Majors with a 2.30 ERA the next year per Baseball Reference.

Those numbers earned Hubbell the All-Star start at the Polo Ground in July of 1934. Hubbell responded by striking out five straight Hall of Famers, an accomplishment that almost seems unbelievable.

After two batters reached to start the game, Hubbell sent down some of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin struck out in order. Overall, Hubbell pitched three scoreless innings with two hits and two walks allowed with six strikeouts against the formidable AL lineup.

To give more credit to Martinez, it’s arguable that all five hitters he struck out should be in the Hall of Fame depending on how one feels about inducting PED users. Still, Hubbell’s performance should be at the forefront of every fan’s mind when thinking about individual All-Star Game heroics.

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