The 1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 39th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball.
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| Date | July 9, 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Houston Astrodome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Houston, Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 48,321 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | NBC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese and Sandy Koufax | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | NBC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek and Gene Elston | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The game was held on July 9, 1968, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas the home of the Houston Astros of the National League, making this the first All-Star Game to be played indoors. The game resulted in the National League defeating the American League 1–0. It is the only All-Star Game played without a run batted in (RBI).
This was the first night All-Star Game since 1944. Apart from the 1969 game (which was originally scheduled to be played at night but was postponed to the following afternoon due to rain), all subsequent All-Star Games have been played at night.
The next indoor All-Star Game was eleven years later, at the Kingdome in Seattle.
Game summary
editThe American League was limited to three hits, unable to get a rally going against Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver, all future Hall of Famers.
A first-inning run scored by Willie Mays on a single, an errant pickoff attempt, a wild pitch by Luis Tiant and a double-play ball gave the winning National league the only run they would need.
Don Wert's eighth-inning double momentarily gave the AL a threat to tie the game, but Seaver struck out the side. In the ninth, with two out, Jerry Koosman was brought in from the bullpen to face Carl Yastrzemski, whose strikeout ended the game.
Starting lineups
edit| American League | National League | ||||||
| Order | Player | Team | Position | Order | Player | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Fregosi | Angels | SS | 1 | Willie Mays | Giants | OF |
| 2 | Rod Carew | Twins | 2B | 2 | Curt Flood | Cardinals | OF |
| 3 | Carl Yastrzemski | Red Sox | OF | 3 | Willie McCovey | Giants | 1B |
| 4 | Frank Howard | Senators | OF | 4 | Hank Aaron | Braves | OF |
| 5 | Willie Horton | Tigers | OF | 5 | Ron Santo | Cubs | 3B |
| 6 | Harmon Killebrew | Twins | 1B | 6 | Tommy Helms | Reds | 2B |
| 7 | Bill Freehan | Tigers | C | 7 | Jerry Grote | Mets | C |
| 8 | Brooks Robinson | Orioles | 3B | 8 | Don Kessinger | Cubs | SS |
| 9 | Luis Tiant | Indians | P | 9 | Don Drysdale | Dodgers | P |
Reserves
editAmerican League
editPitchers
edit| Throws | Pitcher | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RH | Gary Bell | Boston Red Sox | |
| LH | Tommy John | Chicago White Sox | |
| LH | Sam McDowell | Cleveland Indians | |
| RH | Denny McLain | Detroit Tigers | |
| RH | Blue Moon Odom | Oakland Athletics | |
| RH | José Santiago | Boston Red Sox | |
| RH | Mel Stottlemyre | New York Yankees |
Position players
edit| Position | Player | Team | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Mickey Mantle | New York Yankees | ||
| 1B | Boog Powell | Baltimore Orioles | ||
| 2B | Davey Johnson | Baltimore Orioles | ||
| 3B | Don Wert | Detroit Tigers | ||
| C | Joe Azcue | Cleveland Indians | ||
| C | Duane Josephson | Chicago White Sox | ||
| OF | Rick Monday | Oakland Athletics | ||
| OF | Tony Oliva | Minnesota Twins | ||
| OF | Ken Harrelson | Boston Red Sox | ||
| SS | Bert Campaneris | Oakland Athletics |
National League
editPitchers
edit| Throws | Pitcher | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| LH | Steve Carlton | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| LH | Woody Fryman | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| RH | Bob Gibson | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| RH | Jerry Koosman | New York Mets | |
| RH | Juan Marichal | San Francisco Giants | |
| RH | Ron Reed | Atlanta Braves | |
| RH | Tom Seaver | New York Mets |
Position players
edit| Position | Player | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Rusty Staub | Houston Astros | |
| 2B | Julian Javier | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 3B | Tony Pérez | Cincinnati Reds | |
| C | Johnny Bench | Cincinnati Reds | |
| C | Tom Haller | Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| OF | Felipe Alou | Atlanta Braves | |
| OF | Matty Alou | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| OF | Pete Rose | Cincinnati Reds | |
| OF | Billy Williams | Chicago Cubs | |
| SS | Gene Alley | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| SS | Leo Cardenas | Cincinnati Reds |
Line score
editLine score
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| National League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Don Drysdale (1-0) LP: Luis Tiant (0-1) Sv: Jerry Koosman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
External links
edit- 1968 All-Star Game Box Score, July 9 at Baseball-Reference.com
- 1968 All-Star Game at Baseball Almanac
- July 9, 1968: All-Star parade of pitchers in the ‘Year of the Pitcher’ - Society for American Baseball Research