Baseball As America

From the Tour: On the Road With Baseball As America

by Tom Shieber,
Baseball As America Curatorial Committee Member

(Article originally published in Memories and Dreams — Spring 2003)

Frankie Frisch jersey from the 1933 All-Star Game. Photo: The Field Museum.

In 1933, the inaugural year for the All-Star Game, Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward approached American League president Will Harridge with an idea for what Ward termed “the game of the century.” The concept was brilliant, yet simple: pit the top players of the American League against their counterparts in the National League, stage the contest as part of the Chicago World’s Fair, and let the fans pick the competing players.

President Harridge was excited about Ward’s concept and soon American League owners gave the game the go-ahead. Some National League owners were initially less enthusiastic about the idea, expressing concerns over conflicts in scheduling and the allocation of profits, but these concerns were readily addressed. The date of the game was set for July 6, 1933 — an open date in both leagues’ schedules — and Chicago’s Comiskey Park was tabbed as the host venue.

Up to that time, it was common for big league clubs to don alternate uniforms for special events. Hall of Fame manager John McGraw dressed his New York Giants in all-black uniforms for both the 1905 and 1911 World Series, and postseason touring baseball teams often wore unique duds.

For the major league All-Star Game in 1933, each American League player dressed in the home jersey of his regular-season team, while National Leaguers wore specially-designed uniforms. Frankie Frisch, the National League’s All-Star second baseman, wore this new jersey and provided one of the few bright spots for the Senior Circuit that day, a sixth-inning home run off General Crowder of the Washington Senators that cut the American League lead down to one run, 3-2. But the game ultimately proved to be a showcase for aging American League slugger Babe Ruth. Fittingly, the “Bambino” hit the first All-Star Game home run, a two-run shot in the third inning, and was 2-for-4 with a game-saving catch in the eighth, which helped preserve his league’s 4-2 victory.

Reverse of Frankie Frisch jersey. Photo: The Field Museum.

Though originally conceived as a one-time event, the All-Star Game proved so popular that it has been played every year since, with the exception of a one-year hiatus in 1945 due to war-time travel cutbacks. From 1959-62, baseball featured two All-Star Games each summer for four years as a source of revenue for players pension funds, youth baseball and for old timers that played before the start of the pension plan in 1947.

More than 500 historic artifacts, including this special jersey, are featured in Baseball As America, the Baseball Hall of Fame’s national touring exhibition.