50 Years Ago Tonight

If there was ever an All Star Game that conspired against offense, this was the one. At Houston's Astrodome, Willie Mays scored the only run of the game -- when Giants teammate Willie McCovey hit into a double play -- in the National League's 1-0 victory. The first and still only 1-0 contest in the history of baseball's mid-summer classic produced only eight hits (3 for the AL, 5 for the Nationals) -- even with such big bats and future Hall of Famers as Mays, McCovey, Bench, Santo, Yastrzemski and Carew in action. Of course, they were up against such dominating hurlers as Luis Tiant, Denny (on his way to 30 wins) McClain, Drysdale, Seaver, Marichal and Carlton.
Just an aside -- does anyone know Bob Gibson, who totally dominated the NL in '68 -- didn't appear in this All Star Game?
A year later, expansion, a lower mound and tighter strike zone brought some punch back in the game and the memory of this frustrating afternoon -- yes, the All Star Game was still a daytime contest -- began to be be banished.

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