1982 All-Star Game, July 13
Olympic Stadium
Montreal, Quebec
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| Montreal's All-Stars: From L to R: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Steve Rogers, Tim Raines, Al Oliver |
The 1982 All-Star Game would be
the first time the Mid-Summer Classic would be played outside the United States
as the Olympic Stadium in Montreal would host the event. Considering that in
2016, with the Expos having been gone from the city for 12 years, it’s hard to
imagine that Montreal was once a baseball-crazy city but in 1982 that was the
case. The NHL’s Canadiens were suffering from the retirement of Hall Of Fame
goalie Ken Dryden in 1979 and wouldn’t recover until the arrival of Patrick Roy
in 1986. The first version of the CFL’s Alouettes were passed their
best-before-date and were a few years away from becoming defunct.
But the Expos were the talk of
the town. They had won the National League East in 1981 and had just missed out
on a trip to the World Series, losing the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers in
five games. In 1982, fans’ expectation were higher and going into the break,
the Expos were only four games out of first place.
The team had four players in the
starting lineup for the National League: catcher Gary Carter, left-fielder Tim
Raines, right-fielder Andre Dawson and starting pitcher Steve Rogers. First
baseman Al Oliver, his first year in an Expo uniform, was one of the reserves.
Rogers surrendered a run to the
American League in the top of the first when Oakland A’s left-fielder Rickey
Henderson scored on a sacrifice fly by the California Angels’ Reggie Jackson.
The 1-0 lead would only last until the bottom of the second David Concepcion of
the Reds would hit a two-run home run, scoring Dale Murphy of the Braves ahead
of him and giving the NL a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the third, the
lead would be extended to 3-1 when Ruppert Jones scored on a sacrifice fly by
the Phillies’ Pete Rose. In the bottom of the sixth, Gary Carter would give the
Montreal fans something to cheer about as he singled to centre driving in
Oliver with the fourth NL run.
The game would end with that 4-1
score as the National League won the All-Star Game for the eleventh consecutive
year. Rogers picked up the win giving up the one run in three innings of work.
He also surrendered four hits while striking out two batters. Carter had the
one hit and one RBI in three trips to the plate. Raines was 0 for 1 with a
walk, Dawson was 1 for 4 and Oliver had two hits in two at bats with the one
run scored.
This would be the only time the
city of Montreal would play host to the All-Star Game.
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