In the 20 All Star games from 1963-1982 the American League lost 19 of them and took 4 of them to extra frames before falling to the NL. In the 3 games from 1970-1972 with Earl Weaver at the helm, the AL took the NL into extra innings in 1970 and 1972 before falling, and came out on top in a slugfest that featured 6 round-trippers. Every one of them came off the bats of future Hall of Famers; Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente and Johnny Bench for the NL, Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson and the games MVP Frank Robinson.
The 1971 All Star game was first that Sparky Anderson has appeared in as a player, or coach or manager. This despite the fact that the 1970 game was played in his home stadium, the spanking new Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. He would Manage 5 All Star teams going 3-2 lifetime. 1971 was his only loss as a manager of the NL his other loss would be in the dugout for the AL in 1985.
Sparky Anderson looks a little bit like Jim Backus here.
ReplyDelete"Now Lovie, have you seen my slippers?"