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If there are any baseballs left at Petco Park after Giancarlo Stanton jacked 61 dingers in his Home Run Derby victory on Monday, the 87th Midsummer Classic will begin at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday on FOX.
The Giants' Johnny Cueto will start for the Cubs-loaded National League squad against Chris Sale and the American League. We'll see if the NL can snap a three-game losing streak or, better yet, make a great memory like the games on this rundown. Here are the best All-Star Games in chronological order.
Final score: American League 4, National League 2
Billed as the "Game of the Century," the contest served as a morale-boosting diversion before a crowd of approximately 49,000. The Great Bambino slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning off of Bill Hallahan that traveled about 15 rows up in the right field stands, according to the Chicago Tribune. The homer gave the American League a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-2 victory. The rosters for both teams were absolutely stacked: 20 of the game's 36 All-Stars got inducted into the Hall of Fame, including Ruth, Lou Gehrig, the White Sox's own Al Simmons and obviously many more.
Final score: American League 7, National League 5
Highlights: This wasn't even Ted Williams' greatest All-Star Game performance, but it was the most momentous. Batting cleanup behind Joe DiMaggio, Williams came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the American League trailing 5-4. DiMaggio had just hit an RBI forceout to second that left him at first base and moved Joe Gordon to third. They both came around to score when Williams crushed a Claude Passeau fastball into the upper right field stands.
It was difficult to throw one by Williams that season in particular -- the season he batted .406. In his first year back in baseball in 1946, after serving as a pilot in the military for three years during World War II, Williams went 4-for-4 in the All-Star Game with two home runs, four runs and five RBI in the AL's 12-0 rout.
Final Score: American League 11, National League 7
Highlights: The 1949 game did not end in any walk-off theatrics or collisions at home plate, but it rates highly because it's first All-Star game in which African-American players participated. The Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson started at second base and batted second for the NL side. He scored three runs on a 1-for-4 performance with one walk. Fellow Dodgers Roy Campanella entered the game at catcher in the fourth inning and Don Newcombe pitched 2.2 innings. Cleveland Indians outfielder Larry Doby, the American League's first African-American player, entered as a pinch runner for Joe DiMaggio in the sixth inning and manned the outfield for the remainder of the game.
Final score: National League 6, American League 5
Highlights: The fans in Milwaukee saw some pretty potent lineups as a 21-year-old Hank Aaron set forth on the first of his 21 consecutive All-Star seasons. Meanwhile Nellie Fox, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Al Kaline batted two through five for the AL All-Stars. As for the action: the AL mounted a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a Mantle 3-run blast, but the NL rallied late to tie the game 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth. The game remained knotted at 5 until Stan Musial led off the bottom of the 12th with a solo homer off of Frank Sullivan that delivered the NL a 6-5 victory.
Left to right: Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson at the 16th annual All-Star Game at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn, New York, July 12, 1949.
Final score: National League 5, American League 4
Final score: American League 13, National League 3
Highlights: The game was played on July 6, 1983 at Comiskey Park in Chicago exactly 50 years to the day of the first All-Star game in the same place. It wasn't much of a contest as the AL walloped the NL -- a much-needed about-face for the American Leaguers, who had lost 19 of the previous 20 All-Star games dating back to 1963. In the third inning, the Angels' Fred Lynn clobbered a grand slam -- still the only one in All-Star Game history -- to cap a seven running inning for the AL en route to the highest scoring output ever for one team (tied in 1992 and 1998).
Final score: American League 3, National League 2
Final score: American League 5, National League 3
Highlights: "That's an interesting hobby he has for his vacation when baseball ends," former president Ronald Reagan told Vin Scully in the booth while Bo Jackson took his first at-bat in the bottom of the first. "He winds up playing football -- I just don't know if there's ever been anyone--" and CRACK. Jackson crushed a Rick Reuschel pitch to straightaway center field, sending fans diving onto the tarp to recover the ball. Wade Boggs followed with a solo shot of his own. Jackson later added an RBI groundout and a single and stole a base, winning the game's MVP award. The game was also a curtain call for Nolan Ryan, who made his final All-Star appearance at age 42. As usual, Ryan struck out a few batters, registering three Ks in two innings pitched with just one hit allowed.
Final score: American League 7, National League 7
Final score: American League 4, National League 3
Highlights: The House that Ruth Built, and the game that Ruth put on the map, witnessed the longest All-Star Game ever in a 15-inning marathon that ended with a Michael Young sacrifice fly. J.D. Drew didn't enter the game until the sixth inning for the AL but thanks to the bonus baseball, he got four at-bats and managed two hits including a two-run home run that tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and earned him MVP honors. The game also provided a horror show within a show as former Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and committed three errors in the field. Worse, the only ball he put in play resulted in a double play groundout when the NL had men on first and third in the 10th inning. Later that night, Uggla ordered a beer in his hotel room and it was delivered to him warm (this is absolutely not true, but that's just the kind of day he had).
