2022 MLB All-Star Game: 50 fun facts about All-Star Game history originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Perhaps you have a few questions about Tuesday night's MLB All-Star game.
Is 42-year-old Albert Pujols the oldest All-Star of all time? Is 21-year-old Julio Rodriguez the youngest?
Is nine-time All-Star Clayton Kershaw about to set the record for most appearances by a pitcher?
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Are Wilson and William Contreras the first brothers to be teammates on an All-Star team?
Perhaps you’re simply wondering who has the most hits and home runs in All-Star Game history. Or who has been struck out the most. Or who holds the midsummer classic record for hitting into the most double plays.
Well, here are the answers to all of those questions, and many other fun facts about the MLB All-Star game….
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1. The first All-Star game was played at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933, with the American League winning 4-2. The National League wore gray NL uniforms, while the AL wore the home uniform of their respective team. The first home run was hit by Babe Ruth, who launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning.
2. The American League has gone 46-43-2 against the National League in the All-Star game. The All-Star game ended in a 1-1 tie in 1961 in San Francisco due to rain and a 7-7 tie in 2002 in Milwaukee when the game went 11 innings and the teams ran out of available pitchers.
3. Hank Aaron had a record 25 All-Star selections during his 23-year career. Confused? Between 1959 and 1962, MLB had two All-Star games each season.
4. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial have played in the most All-Star games with 24 appearances.
5. The MLB All-Star game has been canceled twice: in 1945 due to travel restrictions during World War II and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
6. From 2003 to 2016, the winner of the All-Star game between the American League and National League determined which league would have home field advantage in the World Series. Home field now goes to the World Series representative with the best regular-season winning percentage.
7. Willie Mays has the most hits in All-Star game history with 23 and most plate appearances with 82.
8. Charlie Gehringer (29 plate appearances) and Ted Kluszewski (14) have the highest career batting average in All-Star game history at .500. They are followed by Derek Jeter at .481 (29 plate appearances).
9. Lefty Gomez leads all All-Star pitchers in wins with three.
10. Mariano Rivera owns the most All-Star game saves with four.
11. Roger Clemens had pitched in the most All-Star games with 10 appearances.
12. Longtime Yankees manager Casey Stengel has managed the most All-Star games with 10 appearances. He also owns the record for most managerial losses with six. Dodgers manager Walt Alston has the most wins with seven.
13. In 1957, Cincinnati fans stuffed the ballot box to elect eight Redlegs, as they were known at the time, to starting positions. Commissioner Ford Frick replaced Gus Bell, Wally Post and George Crowe with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
14. Most Valuable Player of the All-Star game was first awarded in 1962, with Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers named the first MVP.
15. Derek Jeter is the only player to win All-Star game MVP and World Series MVP in the same season, doing so in 2000.
16. Five players have been named All-Star game MVP on two occasions: Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mike Trout.
17. The youngest player to win MVP of the All-Star game was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at 22 years and 119 days old in 2021, moving ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. (22 years and 236 days in 1992).
18. Three father-son combos each have hit home runs in an All-Star game: Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds; and Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.
19. Five sets of brothers have been All-Star teammates: Wilson and William Contreras (2022 NL); Roberto and Sandy Alomar (1991, 1992 AL), Joe and Dom DiMaggio (1949 AL), Dixie and Harry Walker (1947 NL) and Mort and Walker Cooper (1942, 1943 NL).
20. Fred Lynn in 1983 hit what remains the only grand slam in All-Star game history.
21. The most earned runs allowed by a pitcher in a single All-Star game is seven by Atlee Hammaker, who in 1983 gave up the grand slam to Fred Lynn.
22. Gary Sheffield (Padres, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees) and Moises Alou (Expos, Marlins Astros, Cubs, Giants) have represented the most teams in All-Star game history with five each.
23. Dwight Gooden became the youngest All-Star in league history when he was selected as a rookie in 1984 at 19 years old.
24. The oldest pitcher to play in an All-Star game is Satchel Paige, who threw one inning in 1953 at 47 years old. The youngest pitcher to start an All-Star game is Jerry Walker, who tossed three innings in 1959 at 20 years and 172 days old.
25. The oldest position player to appear in an All-Star game is Pete Rose, who grounded out as a pinch hitter in 1985 at 44 years old. The oldest player to get a hit in the All-Star game is Carlton Fisk, who singled in 1991 at 43 years old.
26. The longest All-Star game in history was in 2008 when it went four hours and 50 minutes. The game was played at Yankee Stadium and went 15 innings, tying the ASG record set in 1967 for most innings played.
27. Pete Rose holds the record for most positions played in All-Star game history with five: first base, second base, third base, left field and right field.
28. The most hits by a player in a single All-Star game is four by Joe Medwick, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.
29. Five players have hit two home runs in a single All-Star game: Gary Carter, Willie McCovey, Al Rosen, Arky Vaughan and Ted Williams. Rod Carew is the only player to hit two triples in a single All-Star game.
30. Al Rosen and Ted Williams are tied for the most RBIs in a single All-Star game with five.
31. Don Drysdale, Lefty Gomez, and Robin Roberts have each started five All-Star games, the most for a pitcher. Max Scherzer leads active pitchers with four starts. Drysdale, an eight-time All-Star, has also pitched the most innings (19.1) and struck out the most batters (19) in All-Star game history.
32. Seven pitchers have taken the loss in two All-Star games: Mort Cooper, Whitey Ford, Dwight Gooden, Catfish Hunter, Clade Passeau, John Smoltz and Luis Tiant.
33. Four pitchers share the record for most strikeouts in an All-Star game with six: Larry Jansen, Carl Hubbell, Fergie Jenkins and Johnny Vander Meer. Pedro Martinez holds the record for most strikeouts to open a game with four, fanning Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1999.
34. Mel Harder played in four All-Star games and owns the record for most innings pitched without allowing a run with 13 scoreless frames.
35. Whitey Ford, having played in six All-Star games, has allowed the most earned runs with 11. Vida Blue (two All-Star games) and Catfish Hunter (six) have allowed the most home runs with four each.
36. Dwight Gooden has the most balks in All-Star game history with two.
37. Shohei Ohtani in 2021 became the first player to start an All-Star Game as both a hitter and a pitcher.
38. Mickey Mantle, who played in 16 All-Star games, struck out 17 times, the most all-time.
39. Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose are the only two players to ground into double plays three times in All-Star game history. Bobby Richardson is the only player to ground into two double plays in a single All-Star game, doing so in 1963.
40. Six sets of players have hit back-to-back home runs in the All-Star game: Al Rosen and Ray Boone (1954), Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle (1956), Steve Garvey and Jimmy Wynn (1975), Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs (1989), Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez (2001) and Alex Bregman and George Springer (2018).
41. Five players have led off the All-Star game with a home run: Lou Boudreau, Frankie Frisch, Bo Jackson, Willie Mays and Joe Morgan.
42. Three players have hit walk-off home runs in the All-Star game: Ted Williams (1942), Stan Musial (1955) and Johnny Callison (1964).
43. Only one player has hit an inside-the-park home run in the All-Star game: Ichiro Suzuki (2007).
44. Stan Musial has hit the most home runs in All-Star game history with six.
45. Ted Williams has knocked in the most RBIs with 12.
46. Willie Mays has the most stolen bases with six.
47. The most runs scored by an All-Star team is 13, which the AL has done three times (1983, 1992, 1998). The most combined runs scored by both teams was 21 in 1998, with the AL defeating the NL 13-8. The most runs scored in a single inning during the All-Star game is seven by the AL in 1983.
48. The fewest hits by an All-Star team were two by the National League in 1990 during a 2-0 loss. The two hits were by Lenny Dykstra and Will Clark.
49. The largest attendance in All-Star game history was 72,086 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in 1981. The smallest attendance was 25,556 at Braves Field in Boston in 1936.
50. New York has hosted more All-Star games than any other city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. Three active stadiums have hosted three All-Star games: Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Angel Stadium. Only one active Major League Baseball team has never hosted the All-Star game: the Tampa Bay Rays.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference, MLB.com
