One of my favorite All-Star memories as a kid was the last time the Summer Classic was played at Yankee Stadium. It was 1977 and I was I was 13 years old.
I was a Cubs fan and my neighbor across the street was a Reds fan. All summer long we argue who was better. Of course, this was in the midst of the Great Red Machine dynasty and my Cubs would perennially find themselves in the bottom half of the East Division. I had no love for his Reds but secretly I envied their lineup which included Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, George Foster, and Pete Rose.
But this was the All-Star game and in this, we could agree: the National League ruled and the American League was plain bad. And we were right, at least as far as All-Star Games were concerned. Back then, the NL was in the middle of a 11-year All-Star winning streak stretching from 1972 to 1982.
I went across the street to my friend’s house to watch the game. Dodger Don Sutton was facing the Orioles’ Jim Palmer. The NL had big bats like the aforementioned Reds, LA’s Steve Garvey and Ron Cey, the Bucs’ Dave Parker, and Greg “Bull” Luzinski from the Phils.
The AL was equally stacked with the usual suspects you knew by one name. “Yaz”, “Reggie”, “Carlton” not to mention George Brett, Willie Randolph. It was going to be a fun game!
The NL off to a quick start
And boy, we didn’t have to wait long for the fireworks to begin. In the first at-bat of the game, Joe Morgan homered to give the good guys a 1-0 edge. The inning wasn’t over yet, though. With one out, Dave Parker singled and big bopper George Foster doubled him home. Finally, big Greg Luzinski lumbered up to the plate and cranked a two-run shot. By the end of the first frame, the NL had four runs. Being 13-year boys, my friend and I were jumping up and down whooping it up. The NL had set the tone for the game! Ironically, Palmer had struck out the side in his less than perfect inning.
The NL added an insurance run in the third. Steve Garvey atoned for his strikeout in the first by hitting a solo shot.
The American League attempts a comeback
The AL weren’t going to give up without a fight, though. In the sixth when managers Sparky Anderson and Billy Martin began putting in the subs, they came to life. A Rod Carew base hit and a Fred Lynn walk set up a rbi situation for Richie Zisk. Zisk came through in the clutch and hit a two run double closing the gap 5-2. An inning later, Butch Wynegar came home on a Willie Randolph single making the game a little more interesting.
In the 8th though, the National League made back some of those runs against AL reliever Sparky Lyle. He gave up a leadoff double to Gary Templeton then hit Cub Jerry Morales with a pitch. Lyle must not have had his stuff because he then threw a wild pitch. That was key because Dave Winfield’s single then scored both runners.
This wasn’t key to the game but later that inning Mike Schmidt pinch ran for Reggie Smith. Wonder if he ever did that in regular season?
Rick Reuschel from the Cubs came in to pitch in the 8th. They called him the “Whale” because of his girth but what many don’t know is that he was a good baserunner despite that. He also was GOOD PITCHER lest we Cub fans forget that. He got through the 8th giving up just one hit.
The Americans did manage to score two runs in the ninth against the Goose on a George Scott homerun but the National League victory was preserved. The National League beat the American League 7-5. Don Sutton got the win. Jim Palmer got the loss.
This was before the days of the high five. My buddy and I were all thumbs-up “Fonzie-style” and “gimme five” after the game. The National League had put another one in the books.
Thanks to Retrosheet for the boxscore which helped relive my memory as well as fill in the gaps of my memory. The box score of the 1977 All-Star game is below.
All-Star Game Played on Tuesday, July 19, 1977 (N) at Yankee Stadium
NL 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 7 9 1 AL 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 - 5 8 0
BATTING
National League AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Morgan 2b 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 Trillo 2b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Garvey 1b 3 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 Montanez 1b 2 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 Parker rf 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 Templeton ss 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 Foster cf 3 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 Morales cf 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Luzinski lf 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Winfield lf 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 Cey 3b 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Seaver p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Smith ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Schmidt pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Reuschel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Stearns c 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Bench c 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Lavelle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rose ph,3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Concepcion ss 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Valentine rf 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Sutton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Simmons c 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Gossage p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 33 7 9 7 3 9 27 8
FIELDING -
DP: 1. Montanez-Templeton-Montanez.
E: Templeton (1).
BATTING -
2B: Foster (1,off Palmer); Winfield (1,off LaRoche); Templeton (1,off Lyle).
HR: Morgan (1,1st inning off Palmer 0 on 0 out); Luzinski (1,1st inning off
Palmer 1 on 1 out); Garvey (1,3rd inning off Palmer 0 on 0 out).
SH: Sutton (1,off Palmer).
HBP: Morales (1,by Lyle).
Team LOB: 4.
BASERUNNING -
CS: Concepcion (1,3rd base by Palmer/Fisk).
American League AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Carew 1b 3 1 1 0 0 0 7 0 Scott 1b 2 1 1 2 0 0 4 0 Randolph 2b 5 0 1 1 0 2 2 6 Brett 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 Campbell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Fairly ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Lyle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Munson ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Yastrzemski cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Lynn cf 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 Zisk lf 3 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 Singleton rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jackson rf 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Rice rf,lf 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Fisk c 2 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 Wynegar c 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 Burleson ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Campaneris ss 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 Palmer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kern p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jones ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Eckersley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Hisle ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LaRoche p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nettles 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Totals 35 5 8 5 3 10 27 11
FIELDING -
DP: 1. Randolph-Scott.
BATTING -
2B: Zisk (1,off Seaver).
HR: Scott (1,9th inning off Gossage 1 on 1 out).
HBP: Singleton (1,by Reuschel).
Team LOB: 7.
PITCHING
National League IP H R ER BB SO HR Sutton W(1-0) 3 1 0 0 1 4 0 Lavelle 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 Seaver 2 4 3 2 1 2 0 Reuschel 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Gossage 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 Totals 9 8 5 4 3 10 1
HBP: Reuschel (1,Singleton).
American League IP H R ER BB SO HR Palmer L(0-1) 2 5 5 5 1 3 3 Kern 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Eckersley 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 LaRoche 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Campbell 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 Lyle 2 3 2 2 0 1 0 Totals 9 9 7 7 3 9 3
Palmer faced 1 batter in the 3rd inning
WP: Palmer (1), Lyle (1).
HBP: Lyle (1,Morales).
Umpires: HP - Bill Kunkel, 1B - Doug Harvey, 2B - Dave Phillips, 3B - Dick Stello, LF - Frank Pulli, RF - Joe Brinkman
Time of Game: 2:34 Attendance: 56683