August 31, 1934: The 1st Chicago College All-Star Game

August 31, 1934: The 1st Chicago Tribune Charities College All-Star Game is played at Soldier Field.

Like the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, first played the year before at Chicago's Comiskey Park, it was the idea of Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward, in connection with the 1933-34 "Century of Progress" World's Fair. Unlike the All-Star Game, it was set for Chicago every year. In 1943 and 1944, it was held at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field), in nearby Evanston, Illinois, home field of Northwestern University. Other than those 2, it was always played at Soldier Field.

The format of "the Chicago College All-Star Game" was always the same: An all-star team of recently graduated college players would play the defending NFL Champions. In this case, the Chicago Bears, featuring Harold "Red" Grange, the template for all speedy halfbacks who followed him; and Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, the role model for all big, bruising fullbacks after him. Nevertheless, a crowd of 79,432 saw the All-Stars hold the defending Champions to a 0-0 draw.

The NFL Champions won 30 games, the College All-Stars 9, with 2 ties. The defending NFL Champions who fell to the College All-Stars: The 1937 and 1963 Green Bay Packers, the 1938 and 1943 Washington Redskins, the 1946 Los Angeles Rams, the 1947 Chicago Bears, the 1950 Philadelphia Eagles, the 1955 Cleveland Browns, and the 1958 Detroit Lions.

In 1974, a players' strike in the preseason canceled the game. In 1976, with the Pittsburgh Steelers leading 24-0 late in the 3rd quarter, a lightning storm halted play, and the game was never resumed. And by "never," I mean never: The Tribune announced it would no longer sponsor the game.

And no one seems to miss it. Certainly, the team owners were glad to no longer risk the players on whom they were spending increasing sums of money.

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August 31, 1934 was a Friday. Only 4 major league baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Red Ruffing outpitched Jack Russell, for whom the Phillies' 1955-2003 Spring Training stadium would be named. Babe Ruth went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Lou Gehrig went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1 at Ebbets Field. Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons outpitched Van Lingle Mungo. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk. Bill Terry, by now also the Giants' manager, went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Dizzy Dean outpitched Guy Bush. Gabby Hartnett hit a home run, but it was the only run that Ol' Diz gave up.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Ray Pepper brought home the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning.