July 7, 1936: Dizzy And The Boys Win It For The National League All Stars

     On July 7, 1936, Dizzy Dean led the National League All Stars to a 4-3 over the American League at Braves Field in Boston. The Cardinals ace went three innings, walking two, which included the leadoff man Luke Appling, as well as Lou Gehrig, who he walked in the third. Dean picked Gehrig off to end that inning and his day's work. His final pitching line was zero hits, three strikeouts, and the two walks. Diz faced the minimum, as the other man he walked to lead off the game was retired on a double play. His only regret was he did not get a hit in the tilt. The victory was the first for the National League in the All Star game, which began being played in 1933.

     The Cardinals were well represented in the contest, as Ripper Collins started at first. Leo Durocher started at short, and Ducky Medwick got the start in left. Medwick picked up a very important RBI single in the fifth. Collins walked twice in as a many trips to the plate and Durocher picked up a hit as well. When it came to the starting nine in the contest eight of the nine players were represented by the Cardinals or Cubs. That player being third baseman Pinky Whitney of Phillies. The Cubs had Gabby Hartnett handling catching duties, Augie Galan in center, and Frank Demaree in right.

     The true story of this day was the pitching of National League. Dizzy was the best of the bunch, but those who followed were impressive as well. Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants took over for him after the three innings of dominance, Chicago's Curt Davis took over for Hubbell in the seventh, and gave up a lead off home run to Lou Gehrig. Davis picked up an out immediately thereafter, before giving up back-to-back singles, a walk, then another single that plated two more runs. His Cubs teammate Lon Warneke took over for him and  got the job done, holding the A.L. scoreless the rest of the way.  The Southeast Missourian reported the Warneke "blushed like a school gal when Leo Durocher kissed him smack on the mouth after the final put-out."

      There were several side stories to this contest that are well worth mentioning. The game only drew a crowd of 25,556 because of the fact that most the fans in Boston believed it was sold out for over a week. It was a disappointment to the Major League Baseball as a whole, as they expected more than 40,000 in the stands. Another story was that a rookie batter named Joe DiMaggio went 0 for 5, which had some writers questioning just how great it really was. Sort of funny in hindsight. Finally, Sam Breadon and Branch Rickey's hotel room got robbed before the game. The pair had a reported $600 stolen from them, which would equate to more than $10,000 today. After the contest was played the hotel they were staying at reimbursed them for the loss. Therefore, they both left Boston all smiles.

      To date, the National League has won 43 All Star games, while the American League has won 42. They have also played to two ties.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NLS/NLS193607070.shtml