CLASSIC ALL-STAR GAME MOMENTS
There are many classic moments from the MLB All-Star Game over the years. BABE RUTH hitting the first ever homerun, TED WILLIAMS hitting a walk-off homerun, PETE ROSE running over RAY FOSSE at homeplate, or even CAL RIPKEN, JR. homering in his final All-Star Game appearance...But my favorite All-Star moment has to be when CARL HUBBELL struck out five Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 All-Star Game.

Said Hubbell of that day...

"They talk about those All-Star Games being exhibition affairs, and maybe they are, but I've seen very few players in my life who didn't want to win, no matter whom they were playing or what for. If I'm playing cards for pennies, I want to win. How can you feel any other way? Besides, there were 50,000 fans or more there, and they wanted to see the best you've got. There was an obligation to the people, as well as to ourselves, to go all out. I can recall walking out to the hill in the Polo Grounds that day and looking around the stands and thinking to myself, "Hub, they want to see what you've got.""

People who are regulars at Against the Grain know that I love the old-school mentality that players had. I know it's become popular to discount players who play hard or play the game the right way, but as a fan I like to watch players play hard. I don't know anybody who doesn't. How can you not love a player who says what Carl Hubbell said above this paragraph? That attitude is what makes competition so great. Ultimately that is why we love to watch. We love to see athletes giving everything they have to accomplish what every competitor wants to do, and that is win. I apologize for that BILL WALTON-esque digression, but it just felt like the right thing to do...Back to the story...

Hubbell struck out BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG, JIMMIE FOXX, AL SIMMONS and JOE CRONIN. Here is Carl Hubbell's description of that day (click here).

I provided the links to the baseballreference.com page for each of the aforementioned Hall of Famers just so everybody could easily access their numbers and truly appreciate what Hubbell did. Enjoy the game tonight.