Spotlight on the 1937 All-Star Game

Spotlight on the 1937 All-Star Game

The 1937 All-Star Game was the fifth mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American and National Leagues. The game was held on July 7, 1937, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., with the American League winning, 8–3. The managers were Bill Terry for the National League and Joe McCarthy for the American League. There were 31,391 fans in attendance, including President Franklin Roosevelt.

Thanks again to Don Stokes for his beautiful colorization of this classic photo of American League stars. L-R: Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg.

Dizzy Dean’s career was severely effected by a broken toe in the third inning.

The game is memorable for one innocuous-looking play that had long-lasting consequences. Innocently enough, the play resulted in an infield out that ended the bottom of the third inning. But it stole the show because it marked the beginning of the end of Dizzy Dean’s spectacular career. Dean was one of baseball’s most magnetic personalities and its biggest drawing card, after Babe Ruth had retired two years earlier.

Souvenir program from the 1937 World Series featuring President Roosevelt.

With two out, Earl Averill cracked a low line drive that hit Dean, who was pitching his third inning, directly on the foot. Averill was thrown out and Dean headed for the clubhouse. Later, it was discovered that Dean’s toe was broken. Although it was considered a minor injury, Dean and the Cardinals management decided he would return to the mound before the toe was healed. The injury affected his delivery, eventually injured his arm and ended his glory days at the tender age of twenty-six.

The two managers, Joe McCarthy and Bill Terry.

Lefty Gomez started for the American League and won for the fourth time. He held the National League to one hit over his three innings. He was helped by a two-run homer in the third by Lou Gehrig. Yankees, in fact, dominated the entire game. Red Rolfe singled and tripled with two runs batted in, Joe DiMaggio singled before Gehrig’s home run, Bill Dickey singled and doubled and Gehrig added a double to his homer and drove in four runs.

The ballplayers scramble to catch the first pitch thrown out by President Roosevelt.

The game featured an amazing total of 23 future Hall-of Famers: Dizzy Dean, Gabby Hartnett, Johnny Mize, Billy Herman, Arky Vaughan, Joe Medwick, Paul Waner, Carl Hubbell, Ernie Lombardi, Mel Ott, Bill Terry (NL Mgr,); Lefty Gomez, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Cronin, Earl Averill, Joe DiMaggio, Lefty Grove, Rick Ferrell, Jimmy Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Joe McCarthy (AL Mgr.).

-GL

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Photo Credits: Don Stokes Old-Time Baseball Colorizations, https://www.facebook.com/Don-Stokes-Old-Time-Baseball-Colorizations-923346241033508/?fref=ts, and public domain.

Information: Excerpts edited from Baseball Almanac and the 1937 Wikipedia page.