Monday, July 12, 2010

All-Star Game Memories
The 1958 All-Star Game was played in Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, the first and only All-Star game to visit that venue until many years later when the Orioles' Camden Yards was the host site of the Summer Classic.
In 1958, Fred Haney of the Milwaukee Braves managed the National League team, which was made up of such stars as Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Willie Mays and Stan Musial. Haney devised an unorthodox lineup that had Mays leading off. The Braves' skipper was questioned about his decision and his answer was simple: He said he was trying to get his best player, Mays, as many at-bats as possible against an American League squad that was loaded with power.
Among the big bats of Casey Stengel's AL nine were Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Al Kaline, and Harmon Killebrew.
As it turned out Haney's strategy of Mays leading off was a bust. The American League won, 5-4.

add strategy: In 1989, the All-Star game was played at Anaheim Stadium, which had been converted from an open baseball park to an enclosed arena for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. The American League used Haney's strategy and batted Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals first in the lineup. Jackson, who also played football for the Los Angeles Raiders, delivered with a lead-off home run against the Giants' Rick Reuschel, and his blast to deep center rocked the National League, setting the tone for the rest of the game that was won by the AL, 5-4.
In the Los Angeles Times the next morning, the lead headline in the sports section read: "See Bo Hit, See Bo Run, See AL Win." It was written by an editor on the copy desk named Tom LaMarre.

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