1971 All-Star Game, July 13
Tiger Stadium
Detroit, Michigan
This was the third time the city
of Detroit hosted the Mid-Summer Classic (1941 and 1951) and it would be the
last for Tiger Stadium. The next time the Tigers played host to the All-Star
Game would be in 2005 at Comerica Park. This game would be remembered for
Reggie Jackson’s mammoth home run into the light standards of the stadium.
The National League team
included 15 future Hall-of-Famers (Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell and
Canadian-born Ferguson Jenkins to name a few) while the American League boasted
ten players who would wind up in the Hall (some of those were Harmon Killebrew,
Brooks Robinson and manager Earl Weaver).
Coming into the game, the
National League had won eight straight All-Star Games, including the walk-off
victory the year before in Cincinnati. Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates
would be the starting pitcher for the NL while the AL would counter with Vida
Blue of the Oakland Athletics.
After a scoreless first, the NL
would hit the scoreboard first in the top of the second when Reds’ catcher
Johnny Bench hit a two-run home run with Stargell on base. They would make it
3-0 in the third when Atlanta’s Hank Aaron went deep off of Blue, but the AL
would erupt for four runs in the bottom of the third.
After a lead-off single by Luis
Aparicio, Blue’s spot in the batting order was due up. But since pitchers never
throw more than three innings in the All-Star Game, manager Earl Weaver sent up
Reggie Jackson of the Oakland A’s to pinch hit. Jackson launched a Dock Ellis
pitch high and deep to right-centre field. There was no doubt that it was gone;
the question was how far could it go. It would have definitely gone over the
roof of Tiger Stadium if it had not hit the light standard. The ball was so
high, that the CBS television camera didn’t point high enough to capture the
flight of the ball. It travelled an estimated 520 feet, clearly one of the most
majestic shots in baseball history (and quite possibly the inspiration for Roy
Hobbs’ home run in the movie “The Natural”). (Click here to see Reggie's home run).
The AL had cut the lead to 3-2.
The next batter, Rod Carew, walked and two outs later, the AL surged ahead on a
two-run home run by Frank Robinson. While not as impressive as Jackson’s,
Robinson’s dinger was just as effective and the AL now led 4-3.
The score would remain the same
until the bottom of the sixth when Killebrew hit the third two-run homer of the
game, this time with Detroit’s Al Kaline aboard. The AL led 6-3.
The final run of the game would
come courtesy of another home run, this time by Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente
who knocked the ball over the right-centre field fence for a solo shot. The
final score would be American League-6, National League-4. Frank Robinson would
be the MVP of the game, but it was Jackson’s tremendous blast that was talked
about following the game.
Vida Blue was the winning
pitcher while Dock Ellis took the loss. Mickey Lolitch of the Tigers would
pitch two innings of relief to pick up the save.
The American League snapped
their eight-game losing streak, but unfortunately, they would lose eleven
straight games and not get into the win column again until the 1983 game. Over
the 20-game stretch from 1963 until 1982, the American League would post a 1-19
record, the worst stretch for either league in the history of the game.
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