Apr 4, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; A general view of a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres during the eighth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The Top 10 MLB All-Star Game performances include one of the greatest hitters who ever lived, a phenom pitcher, and a potential 2017 Hall of Fame inductee, among others.
When it comes to judging the best All-Star Game performances, there are a number of considerations to take into account. Can a single at-bat make the top 10 All-Star Game performances, such as the 1971 mammoth blast by Reggie Jackson off of Dock Ellis that is considered to be the longest home run ever hit in an All-Star Game? According to ESPN Home Run Tracker, Reggie’s dinger “cleared the roof of Tiger Stadium in Detroit and slammed into an electrical transformer about 100 feet above field level, at a distance from home plate of about 380 feet.” They estimate the ball would have landed 539 feet from home plate if it had not hit the transformer.
The caveat is that it was Jackson’s only at-bat in that All-Star Game. When he came to the plate, his team was losing 3-0. His home run made it 3-2. He pinch hit for Vida Blue in the bottom of the 3rd and was replaced by Jim Palmer in the top of the 4th. It was a memorable moment in All-Star Game history, but it was just a single at-bat.
The year before Reggie’s monster shot there was another memorable All-Star Game moment that has since become one of the most replayed moments in baseball history. In the bottom of the 12th inning of the 1970 All-Star Game in Cincinnati, hometown boy Pete Rose was on second base with two outs in a tie game. Jim Hickman singled up the middle and Pete Rose took off from second and came rumbling around third, headed for home. Catcher Ray Fosse positioned himself for a play at the plate and Rose barreled into him like a semi truck, jarring the ball loose and winning the game for the National League.
This play is one of the signature moments of Pete Rose’s 24-year career. But it was just one play in a 12-inning game. Rose was 1 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts in that game. He left four men on base. His Wins Probability Added was .028, which put him eighth on the team in that metric, and his Run Expectancy for his four plate appearances was 0.3, tied for fifth on the team. It was a great moment, but not a top 10 performance when you look at the whole game.
For my top 10 list, I will look at the entire game for each player, not just one signature play. This may skew the list towards games that were played before rosters were expanded and everyone got an at-bat or two, but I’m okay with that. Also, with pitchers being limited in the number of innings they pitch in All-Star Games, they have less of an opportunity to have a great performance than a hitter who gets four or more at-bats. Of course, some pitchers are able to transcend their innings limitation with amazing performances in two or three innings and that will be reflected here. Here is my top 10 list of All-Star Game performances.
#10. Arky Vaughan, 1941 All-Star Game at Briggs Stadium, Detroit
From 1934 to 1942, Arky Vaughan played in nine All-Star Games. The best season of his career was in 1935, when he hit .385/.491/.607, with 19 homers and 99 RBI. That’s a mind-boggling season for a shortstop. Heading into the all-star break in 1941, Vaughan was hitting .300/.382/.429. Incredibly, he had struck out just eight times in 242 plate appearances.
The 1941 All-Star Game was scoreless through the first three innings. From that point on, it became the Ted Williams versus Arky Vaughan show. Williams doubled in a run in the bottom of the fourth to give the AL a 1-0 lead. Vaughan singled in the top of the fifth but was stranded on the bases. The NL tied the game in the top of the sixth and the AL untied it in the bottom of the sixth.
Down by a run in the top of the seventh, the National League got something started on a single by Enos Slaughter. Vaughan followed with a two-run homer to make it 3-2, National League. He repeated the feat in the top of the eighth. Johnny Mize doubled with one out. Slaughter struck out, but Vaughan hit his second home run of the game to put the NL up by three runs, 5-2.
The American League got a run back when Dom DiMaggio knocked in Joe DiMaggio with an RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-3. After going 3 for 4 with 2 runs, 4 RBI, and 2 homers, Vaughan was replaced by Eddie Miller in the field for the bottom of the ninth inning. What happened next will be revealed later in this list.
Next: Number 9
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#9. Roberto Alomar, 1998 All-Star Game at Coors Field, Denver
Before the 1998 All-Star Game at Coors Field, the three previous All-Star Games had been relatively low-scoring affairs, with a combined 15 runs being scored by both teams in the three games. Everyone expected this stretch of low-scoring games to end in the high altitude of Denver and they were correct.
Greg Maddux started the game for the NL and immediately ran into trouble when Kenny Lofton singled and stole second. Roberto Alomar bunted for a base hit, moving Lofton to third, but Maddux was able to get out of the inning unscathed.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Tony Gwynn singled to center off Roger Clemens to score Larry Walker and Walt Weiss. The AL came right back in the top of the fourth when they plated four runs. Alomar was part of this rally when he worked a walk off Tom Glavine.
An RBI-single by Walt Weiss in the bottom of the fourth pulled the NL to within a run, but Alex Rodriguez homered in the top of the fifth to give the AL a two-run cushion again. This was Coors Field, though, so a 5-3 lead meant nothing to the National League. Barry Bonds hit a three-run jack in the bottom of the fifth off Bartolo Colon and the NL was ahead, 6-5.
Roberto Alomar was part of the scoring again in the top of the sixth when he led the inning off with a single. He would score on a passed ball as the AL plated three in the inning to take an 8-6 lead. He added a solo homer in the top of the seventh that made it 9-6. He was then pinch-hit for by Ray Durham in the top of the ninth as the AL added three more runs and won the game easily, 13-8.
The 1998 game was Roberto Alomar’s ninth straight appearance in an All-Star Game. He would play in three more. Overall, he would appear in total of 12 All-Star Games for four different teams. He is tied for second all-time with five All-Star Game steals, behind only Willie Mays.
#8. Steve Garvey, 1978 All-Star Game at San Diego Stadium, San Diego
The 1978 All-Star Game came in the midst of a tremendous run of success by the National League. From 1960 to 1982, the NL went 23-2-1 in All-Star Games (they played two games in 1960, 1961, and 1962). First baseman Steve Garvey would be playing in his fifth straight All-Star Game in 1978.
Jim Palmer was on the bump for the AL and Vida Blue was toeing the slab for the NL. This was Blue’s first year with the San Francisco Giants after nine years with the Oakland A’s and he got a rude awakening from his old league mates when he gave up two runs in the top of the first and another run in the top of the third.
Meanwhile, Steve Garvey had walked in his first plate appearance in the bottom of the second, but was stranded by Ted Simmons and Rick Monday. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the third, Greg Luzinski walked with the bases loaded to drive in the first run of the game for the National League. It was the third straight walk by Palmer. Steve Garvey then stepped up to the dish and lined a game-tying single to left and the score was 3-3.
Garvey grounded out in the bottom of the fifth, but was part of a scoring rally in the bottom of the eighth that would break the game open. Goose Gossage entered the game with the score still notched at 3-3. Garvey greeted him with a triple, then scored on a wild pitch to give the NL a 4-3 lead. A walk and three singles added on three more runs and the NL continued their stretch of dominance with a 7-3 victory. Garvey was named MVP of the game for going 2 for 3 with a walk, a run, and 2 RBI.
Steve Garvey played in 10 All-Star Games and hit .393/.433/.821 with 7 runs, 2 homers, and 7 RBI. Six of his 11 hits were for extra-bases and he has the highest slugging percentage in All-Star Games of any player with 30 or more plate appearances.
#7. J.D. Drew, 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium II, New York
The 2008 All-Star Game would go 15 innings and last 4 hours and 50 minutes, tying the record for most innings in an All-Star Game and setting the record for length in time of an All-Star Game. The game ended at 1:38 am ET.
32-year-old J.D. Drew had signed a five-year, $70 million contract prior to the 2007 season and put up the worst full season of his career. He bounced back in 2008 and was hitting .302/.412/.572, with 17 homers and 55 RBI at the all-star break. That production earned him the only all-star appearance of his career.
The American League was dominating the All-Star Game during this time. Heading into the 2008 game, the AL had won 11 in a row. The starting pitchers were Ben Sheets for the NL and Cliff Lee for the AL. J.D. Drew started the game on the bench, with Ichiro beginning the game in right field.
The NL had taken a 2-0 lead by the time Drew got his first plate appearance in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and a runner on third. He launched an Edinson Volquez pitch into the seats for a two-run homer that tied the game.
Both teams scored in the eighth inning and the game remained tied, 3-3. As each team used pitcher after pitcher, 23 in all, the game remained deadlocked. Drew reached base again in the bottom of the 13th on an error by Dan Uggla, one of three errors made by Uggla in the game. Drew stole second on a strikeout by Michael Young, but was stranded when Quentin struck out to end the inning.
The game finally ended in the bottom of the 15th. Justin Morneau singled to center and Ian Kinsler lined out to left. Dioner Navarro singled to put runners on first-and-second, bringing up J.D. Drew. Drew walked to load the bases. It was the fourth time Drew got on base in this game. Michael Young followed with a sacrifice fly to right that drove in the winning run and gave the American League their 12th straight victory.
Next: Number 6
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#6. (Tie) Carl Hubbell, 1934 All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds, New York and Pedro Martinez, 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, Boston
It’s difficult for a pitcher to have one of the 10 greatest performances of all-time in an All-Star Game because most pitchers don’t pitch enough innings to have a great effect on the outcome of the game. Of course, there are some stretches of brilliance that are so impressive that they transcend the numbers. In this case, both Carl Hubbell in 1934 and Pedro Martinez in 1999 performed at such a high level that they warrant a spot on this list. Let’s start with Hubbell.
The 1934 All-Star Game was only the second one ever played. The American League had won the initial game in 1933 by a score of 4-2 and Babe Ruth, predictably, had hit a home run. The 1934 game was played at the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants. The starting pitcher in the game was the Giants’ Carl Hubbell, pitching in front of his hometown fans.
Hubbell took the hill for the top of the first and immediately gave up a single and a walk to put two runners on. The great Babe Ruth was at the plate. Hubbell bore down and struck out, in succession, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx.
In the top of the second, Hubbell struck out Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin, running his strikeout streak to five straight. After a single by Bill Dickey, Hubbell struck out Lefty Gomez to end the inning. Hubbell ended up pitching three scoreless innings and allowing four base runners, but it was the five straight strikeouts of Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, and Cronin (all Hall of Famers) that would be remembered forever.
Pedro Martinez had his signature All-Star Game moment in 1999. This was one of the most prolific scoring seasons in baseball history. In fact, only the 2000 season saw more home runs hit and more runs scored than the 1999 season. While baseballs were flying out of the park and runs were being scored at an unprecedented level, Pedro Martinez was having two of the greatest pitching seasons in history. He went 41-10 with a 1.90 ERA in 430 innings in 1999-2000, while striking out 597 batters and walking just 69. He was incredible.
Heading into the 1999 All-Star Game, Pedro was 15-3 with a 2.10 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 132 2/3 innings. As luck would have it, the game was being played at Fenway Park and Pedro got the start for the American League.
The first inning saw Pedro strike out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa. Mark McGwire was his first victim in the top of the second. Matt Williams reached on an error, but Jeff Bagwell then struck out and Williams was caught stealing to end the inning. In two innings, Pedro had struck out Larkin, Walker, Sosa, McGwire, and Bagwell.
Pedro Martinez faced 14 batters in All-Star Games. He allowed two hits, no walks, and struck out eight of them.
Next: Number 5
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#5. Tim Raines, 1987 All-Star Game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland
Tim Raines was a free agent at the end of the 1986 season and should have been one of the most sought-after players in baseball. He would be 27 years old in 1987 and had been an All-Star in the previous six seasons, during which he averaged 144 games played, 99 runs scored, 52 RBI, 76 steals, and a .306/.391/.436 batting line. He had led the league in hitting and on-base percentage in 1986, while stealing 70 bases in 79 attempts.
And he got no free agent offers. The only team to offer him a contract was his old team, the Montreal Expos, and it was for a token salary increase. He held out and missed the deadline to re-sign with Montreal. He eventually signed with the Expos on May 2nd, after missing the first month of the season. In his very first game, he was 4 for 5 with three runs scored, 4 RBI, a triple, a homer, and a stolen base. Despite missing a month, Raines had the second-highest seasonal WAR total of his career in 1987 (per Baseball-Reference). It would eventually come to light that MLB owners had colluded to keep down salaries by not making offers to free agents during the 1986-87 off-season. Raines would receive compensation for the wages he missed out on.
Heading into the All-Star break, Raines was hitting .346/.427/.520 with 25 steals in 27 attempts. Despite his terrific stats, he did not start the game. Eric Davis got the start in left field. To be fair, Davis was hitting .321/.413/.694, with 27 homers and 68 RBI, so he deserved to be a starter.
Davis ended up going 0 for 3 before being replaced by Raines in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the game scoreless in the top of the ninth, Raines lined a one-out single to center, then stole second and went to third on a bad throw. Neither Juan Samuel nor Jeff Leonard could drive him in and the game remained scoreless. Raines singled again in the top of the 11th, but was stranded on first.
The game was still 0-0 going into the top of the 13th. Ozzie Virgil led off with a single. Lonnie Smith struck out, but Hubie Brooks single to right, moving Virgil to second. Willie McGee lined out to left for out number two, bringing Raines to the plate. He lined a triple to left-center to drive in both runs and gave the NL the 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.
This 13-inning game saw 40 different hitters come to the plate and combine to go 14 for 88 (.159). Raines was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base.
#4. Bob Feller, 1939 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, New York
The 1939 All-Star Game was just the seventh All-Star Game ever played and the first ever in the initial incarnation of Yankee Stadium, also known as “The House That Ruth Built.” There were six Yankees in the starting lineup and one of them, Joe DiMaggio, hit the only home run in the game.
It wasn’t a Yankee who had the best performance in this game, though, it was a 20-year-old Cleveland pitcher named Bob Feller who, despite his young age, was in his fourth major league season and his second All-Star Game. Feller had come into the all-star break with a record of 14-3 and a 2.60 ERA, but the manager for the AL, the Yankees Joe McCarthy, started his own team’s pitcher, Red Ruffing, who was 11-3 with a 2.69 ERA in the first half.
The All-Star Game was different in these days. Fifteen hitters had four or more plate appearances in this game and each team used just three pitchers. In last year’s All-Star Game, only one hitter had four plate appearances (Mike Trout) and the teams combined to use 16 pitchers.
The National League jumped out in front with a run in the top of the third inning. The AL came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, then added a third run on Joe DiMaggio’s solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. The key moment of the game came in the top of the sixth. With the AL leading 3-1, the NL rallied. Lumbering Ernie Lumbardi singled to left with one out and moved to second when Joe Medwick reached on an error. Mel Ott followed with a single to load the bases, bringing Arky Vaughan to the plate.
Joe McCarthy removed Tommy Bridges and brought in the 20-year-old Feller to get out of this bases-loaded, one out jam. Feller induced Vaughan to hit into an inning-ending double play and the AL retained their 3-1 lead. From there, Feller closed out the game by retiring nine of the final 11 batters, giving up a harmless walk in the seventh and a meaningless single in the ninth. Overall, Feller pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just two base runners while getting the biggest out of the game.
#3. Ted Williams, 1941 All-Star Game at Briggs Stadium, Detroit
When the 1941 All-Star Game came around on July 8, Joe DiMaggio had already broken the consecutive game hitting streak record that was set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1897. Keeler had hit in 44 consecutive games that year. DiMaggio went into the 1941 break with a 48-game hitting streak. He was also hitting an impressive .357/.434/.650.
As good as DiMaggio had been in the first half, Ted Williams was even better. Williams was hitting .405/.520/.684 at the break and would go on to hit .406/.583/.790 in the second half. He finished the year at .406 and no one has hit .400 in the 75 years since.
The 1941 season was Ted Williams’ third year in the big leagues and this would be his second All-Star game appearance. He was just 22 years old. In his first All-Star Game the year before, Williams had gone 0 for 2 with a walk. That just wouldn’t do, so Williams put on a show in this game.
After walking in first at-bat, Williams broke up a 0-0 tie with an RBI-double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Williams then flew out in the bottom of the sixth and struck out looking in the bottom of the eighth as the National League built up a 5-3 lead. The ninth inning would feature key plays from both DiMaggio and Williams.
Claude Passeau was on the mound for the NL. He got Frankie Hayes to pop out, then gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. With Williams on deck, DiMaggio hit what should have been a game-ending double-play ball to shortstop Eddie Miller, who relayed the ball to second baseman Billy Herman. Herman’s throw to first was wide and DiMaggio was safe, with the National League still ahead, 5-4.
Up stepped Ted Williams, with two outs and runners on first and third, and trailing by a run. He launched a Passeau fastball into the upper right-field stands for a three-run, game-winning home run and skipped around the bases with youthful exuberance.
Ted Williams played in 18 All-Star Games and went 14 for 46 with 4 homers, 10 runs scored, 12 RBI, and walked 11 times. His career batting line for All-Star Games was .304/.439/.652.
#2. Al Rosen, 1954 All-Star Game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland
At the time it was played, the 1954 All-Star Game set multiple records for offense, including home runs by both teams (six), home runs by one team (four, by the AL), runs by both teams (twenty), and hits by both teams (31). The National League was riding a four-game winning streak and the AL was determined to break it.
The starting pitchers in this game were Robin Roberts for the NL and Whitey Ford for the AL. Mickey Mantle batted third for the American League and Stan Musial batted fourth for the National League. Both of those legends had a pair of hits in the game but it was Al Rosen of the hometown Cleveland Indians who had the biggest game of them all.
Rosen got off to a slow start when he struck out with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. That would be the last time he would make an out in this game. He came to the plate again in the bottom of the third and again there were two men on and two outs. This time he did not disappoint. He hit a three run homer to left-center that put the AL up 3-0. Ray Boone followed with a solo home run to make it 4-0. The lead was short lived, though, as the NL came back with five runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead.
Rosen came to the dish again in the bottom of the fifth. The AL was down 7-5 and Yogi Berra had just singled. Rosen hit a Johnny Antonelli pitch deep to left field for his second home run of the game to tie the score. An inning later, Rosen had another chance to help the cause. With two outs and the AL leading 8-7, he hit a single to load the bases, but Ray Boone flew out to end the threat.
The National League kept fighting back, though, and took a 9-8 lead into the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Larry Doby hit a solo home run to tie the score. Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra had back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second and Rosen came up again. This time he didn’t get anything good to hit and walked to load the bases. Carl Erskine came on in relief and struck out Mickey Vernon, but Nellie Fox followed with the game-winning hit. The AL won the game, 11-9. Rosen was 3 for 5 with 2 homers, 2 runs scored, a walk, and 5 RBI.
#1. Ted Williams, 1946 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, Boston
The 1946 All-Star Game held a special place in the hearts of fans and players alike. The 1945 game had been cancelled because of World War II, but now the war had ended and the All-Star Game was back. Many players said they had never seen a more festive occasion. Some of baseball’s marquee players had served in World War II and had come back to the states as heroes. One of these players was Ted Williams. Williams had missed the three previous seasons serving the country in World War II, but still came into the all-star break hitting a robust .347/.512/.693.
Williams was batting third for the AL in this game, behind Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. With two outs in the first inning, he earned a walk off Claude Passeau, then scored on a two-run homer by Charlie Keller. In his second at-bat, he hit a solo home run off Kirby Higbe to make the score 3-0. He got Higbe again in the bottom of the fifth when he singled to left field, driving in Stan Spence. In the bottom of the 7th, he singled off Ewell Blackwell and later scored on a two-run double by Joe Gordon.
Despite the score being 9-0 at the time, one of the biggest moments of the game came in the bottom of the eighth when Ted Williams came to the plate with two men on and two outs. He was facing Rip Sewell, who had become known for his eephus pitch, a high lobbing toss that more closely resembled a slowpitch softball toss than a major league fastball. Sewell tossed in his eephus and Williams blasted it into the right field bullpen for a three-run homer.
In thinking back to this moment, Rip Sewell has claimed that it was the only home run ever hit off of his eephus pitch. It capped a tremendous game by Ted Williams. The game was an absolute blowout, but it showed why Ted Williams was the greatest hitter of his generation. He had gone 4 for 4, with a walk, 2 home runs, 4 runs scored, and 5 RBI. It was the greatest performance in All-Star Game history.
