July 11, 1944: The Few-Stars Game

Bill Nicholson

July 11, 1944: Baseball holds its All-Star Game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. With the manpower drain of World War II, the term “All-Star” is a bit of a stretch.

The starting pitcher for the American League was the Yankees’ Hank Borowy, from Bloomfield, New Jersey. He was the only Yankee in the starting lineup: Joe DiMaggio and Joe Gordon were in the Army (DiMaggio in the Army Air Force), Bill Dickey and Phil Rizzuto were in the Navy, Charlie Keller was in the Merchant Marine, and Tommy Henrich was in the Coast Guard. The only other Yankee in the game was relief pitcher Joe Page.

From the starting lineup, only 2nd baseman Bobby Doerr of the Boston Red Sox would make the Hall of Fame. From the reserves: Shortstop Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians, catcher Rick Ferrell of the Washington Senators, and pitcher Hal Newhouser of the Detroit Tigers.

The National League’s starter was Bucky Walters of the Cincinnati Reds. They also had just 1 of their starters make the Hall of Fame: Center fielder Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals. (And that was not his usual position. The next year, Stan the Man would be in the Navy.) The only Hall-of-Famers from their reserves were both, then, with the New York Giants, and too old to be drafted: Right fielder and manager Mel Ott and left fielder Joe Medwick.

So there were only 6 Hall-of-Famers in this game.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Borowy himself singled home Cleveland 3rd baseman Ken Keltner, to put the AL on the board first. But that was all they would get. The NL scored 4 in the bottom of the 5th, RBIs coming on a double by Chicago Cubs outfielder Bill Nicholson, a single by Brooklyn Dodger outfielder Augie Galan, a single by Cardinal catcher Walker Cooper, and a single by Dodger 1st baseman Dixie Walker.

A 2-RBI double in the 7th by Cardinal 3rd baseman Whitey Kurowski, and a single in the 8th by Musial, put the finishing touches on a 7-1 win for the NL.

The next season, there was no All-Star Game at all: The new Commissioner, Albert "Happy" Chandler, canceled it due to wartime travel restrictions. In 1946, with the war over and the restrictions off, Chandler gave the All-Star Game to the ballpark that was going to get it in 1945: Fenway Park in Boston.

Note until 2012 would there be another All-Star Game with fewer players who are, as of the 2022 elections, in the Baseball Hall of Fame. From that point onward, we're looking at some active players who might work their way into Hall-worthiness.

Note: Bill Nicholson, known as "Swish" because he struck out a lot, was not related to the English soccer player and manager of the same name.

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July 11, 1944 was a Tuesday, as is usually the case when the All-Star Game is played. There were no other major league sports in season at the time, so this was the only score on this historic day.