The 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 13th playing of the "Midsummer Classic" by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's (MLB)

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL) and

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) All-Star teams. The

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

was held on July 9, 1946 at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the home of the AL's

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 12–0.

Red Sox in the game

The Red Sox hosted the game and were well-represented. Red Sox infielders

Bobby Doerr Robert Pershing Doerr (April 7, 1918 – November 13, 2017) was an American professional baseball second baseman and coach (baseball), coach. He played his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Boston Red Sox (1937–1951). ...

and

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shorts ...

, along with outfielders

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

and

Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio wa ...

, were in the AL starting lineup, while pitchers Dave Ferriss and Mickey Harris along with first baseman Rudy York and catcher Hal Wagner were also named to the team (of the Red Sox' reserves, only York played in the game). This was the game in which Ted Williams became the only player to hit a home run against the famed " Eephus pitch" of

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

hurler Rip Sewell.

Starting lineups

Players in ''italics'' have since been inducted into the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

National League

* ''

Red Schoendienst Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst ( ; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wi ...

'', 2b * ''

Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent ...

'', lf * Johnny Hopp, cf * Dixie Walker, rf * Whitey Kurowski, 3b * ''

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "the Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, Coach (baseball), coach and Scout (sport), scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (ML ...

'', 1b *

Walker Cooper William Walker Cooper (January 8, 1915 – April 11, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1940 to 1957, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals with who ...

, c *

Marty Marion Martin Whiteford "Mr. Shortstop" Marion (December 1, 1917 – March 15, 2011) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop and manager (baseball), manager. Marion played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns between 1940 and 195 ...

, ss * Claude Passeau, p

American League

, cf *

, ss * ''

'', lf *

Charlie Keller Charles Ernest Keller (September 12, 1916 – May 23, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1939 through 1952 for the New York Yankees (1939–1943, 1945–1949, 1952) and De ...

, rf * ''

'', 2b *

Mickey Vernon James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (April 22, 1918 – September 24, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Washington Senators (1939–1948, 1950–1955), Cleveland Indians (1949–1950, 1958), Boston Red ...

, 1b * Ken Keltner, 3b * Frankie Hayes, c * ''

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

'', p

Umpires

The umpires changed assignments in the middle of the fifth inning – Summers and Goetz swapped positions, also Boggess and Rommel swapped positions.

Synopsis

The NL threatened in the top of the first inning, having two men on with one out, but were unable to score. The AL scored two runs in the bottom of the first, on a home run by Charlie Keller. There was then little activity until Ted Williams hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth, followed by the AL sending nine men to the plate in the bottom of the fifth while scoring three runs. The AL later added six more runs, with the NL never threatening. Ted Williams still (through 2016) holds five single-game All-Star Game Records, which were set in this game: hits (4), home runs (2), runs (4), RBI (5), and

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(10). Note that MLB did not name an All-Star Game MVP until 1962. Because the 1945 All-Star Game was canceled,

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

manager

Billy Southworth William Harold Southworth (March 9, 1893 – November 15, 1969) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player in and and from to for five big-league teams, Southworth took part in almost 1,200 games, fell ...

, who had managed the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in 1944, was named a coach under Charley Grimm, while

Steve O'Neill Stephen Francis O'Neill (July 6, 1891 – January 26, 1962) was an American professional baseball catcher and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his first 13 seasons with the Cleveland Indians. As a manager, he led the Detroit Tigers to a ...

named

Luke Sewell James Luther "Luke" Sewell (January 5, 1901 – May 14, 1987) was an American professional baseball player, Coach (baseball), coach, and Manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1921 ...

of the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

as one of his coaches.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacBaseball-Reference.com
{{Major League Baseball on Mutual

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

Major League Baseball All-Star Game Baseball competitions in Boston

July 1946 sports events in the United States 1940s in Boston