In the 1985 season, Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker was selected for the All-Star Game for the third consecutive year. However, upon arriving at the Metrodome in Minnesota, Whitaker realized he had forgotten to bring some crucial parts of his uniform. While he had packed his socks and uniform pants in his suitcase with his clothes, Whitaker didn’t have a cap, jersey, helmet, glove, spikes, or batting gloves. He requested that an emergency uniform be sent, but the uniform got lost in transit, and Whitaker was forced to improvise.
Whitaker purchased a replica jersey at the park and stenciled his number 1 on the back of it with a marker. He also managed to purchase an adjustable mesh Tigers cap. His All-Star teammates also stepped up to assist: Cleveland pitcher Bert Blyleven let Whitaker wear his helmet at the plate; Baltimore’s Cal Ripken, Jr. had an extra glove; and Damaso Garcia of the Blue Jays was able to provide batting gloves (I haven’t been able to discover what he did about spikes). Starting at second base, he went 0-for-2 in the game before being removed in the sixth inning, and the American League lost, 6-1.
But the story doesn’t end there. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. was so fascinated by his case of forgetfulness that they requested the garment. Whitaker obliged, and the jersey that he wore in that All-Star Game is still in the Smithsonian’s collection today.
Lou Whitaker, 1985 All-Star Game (legendsrevealed.com)Lou Whitaker, 1985 All-Star Game (legendsrevealed.com)
Johnny Vander Meer, c. 1948 (Baseball Digest / public domain)
John Samuel Vander Meer was born on November 2, 1914 in Prospect Park, New Jersey. His interest in baseball began at the age of 8, listening to the radio as the New York Giants defeated the New York Yankees in the 1922 World Series. He then began playing at age 10 as a first baseman for his school, finally moving to the mound at the age of 17.
Vander Meer was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1933 and assigned to the Dayton Ducks. He bounced around the minors for a few years, unable to impress the clubs who signed him, before finally making his major league debut on April 22, 1937, at the age of 22, with the Cincinnati Reds.
The following season, on June 11, 1938, Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Bees. Four days later, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he threw another no-hitter, becoming the first and, thus far, the only player in major league history to throw two straight no-hitters. This accomplishment is one that many consider to be impossible to reproduce, much less beat.
Vander Meer’s performance earned him the role as the starting pitcher for the National League team in the 1938 All-Star game. He ended the season with a 15–10 record and a 3.12 ERA, while striking out 125 and walking 103. The Sporting News named Vander Meer their MLB Player of the Year for 1938.
Though he was named an All-Star again in 1939, Vander Meer had a disappointing season due to a series of illnesses and arm troubles. He posted a 5-9 record with a 4.67 ERA. Experiencing problems with his control, Vander Meer was sent back to the minors in 1940, returning to the majors in September and posting a 3-1 record the rest of the season. In the 1940 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Vander Meer made only one appearance when he entered Game 5 in the fifth inning, with the Reds trailing 7–0. He pitched three scoreless innings as the Reds lost 8–0. The Reds went on to win the Series in seven games.
Vander Meer would go on to be named an All-Star twice more in his career, in 1942 and 1943. He joined the United States Navy in June 1944, during World War II, where he would play for the Navy baseball team. He was discharged from the Navy in December 1945.
In 1946, Vander Meer returned to play for the Reds at the age of 31, though his performance had started to decline by this time. He did manage to post a 17-14 record in 1948; however, in early 1950, his contract was sold to the Chicago Cubs. He was then released by the Cubs in March 1951, signed with the Cleveland Indians, but appeared in only one game for the Indians before being released.
Vander Meer produced a 119–121 record with 1,294 strikeouts (and also 1,132 walks) and a 3.44 ERA in 2,104 2⁄3 innings over the course of his 13-year major league career. He also collected 29 career shutouts and is one of only six NL pitchers since 1930 to lead the league in strikeouts in three straight seasons (1941–1943).
After retiring as a player at the age of 40, Vander Meer became a minor league manager in the Cincinnati Reds organization for ten seasons before retiring in 1962. He was inducted as part of the inaugural class into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.
After baseball, Vander Meer worked for Schlitz Brewing Co. for 15 years. Johnny Vander Meer died at his home in Tampa, Florida, on October 6, 1997, at the age of 82.
Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. was born May 18, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father, Brooks Robinson, Sr., was a semi-pro second baseman who played with his son in his younger years. Brooks, Jr. went on to play third base for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed “the Human Vacuum Cleaner,” he is considered by many to have been the greatest defensive third baseman in major league history.
Robinson was an 18-time All-Star and also won sixteen Gold Glove Awards. He won two World Series with the Orioles, being named World Series MVP in 1970. Robinson also earned American League MVP honors in 1964 when he led the AL in RBIs for the season. In 1972, he was presented with the Roberto Clemente Award, and he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1977, with his number 5 being retired a year later.
Brooks Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 with 91.98% of the vote in his first appearance on the ballot.
He passed away yesterday, September 26, 2023 at the age of 86. Rest in peace.
The All-Star break has officially begun, and I am amazed that we are already halfway through the season. The 2023 All-Star Game is set to take place at T-Mobile Park (formerly known as Safeco Field) in Seattle.
At this point, the HBCU Swingman Classic, the All-Star Futures Game, and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game have already taken place. The schedule for the rest of the break is as follows:
Monday, July 10: MLB Home Run Derby at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Tuesday, July 11: MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show at 2 p.m. ET (MLB Network)
Tuesday, July 11: MLB All-Star Game at 8 p.m. ET (FOX)
In All-Star Games the players are chosen by balloting. Millions of fans vote. It is Democracy at its most transcendent. All the voters get out of it is the loss of a three-cent stamp or a two-cent postal card. Dishonesty in counting the votes has never been charged.
Edwin Jackson, April 2010 (Steven Groves / Wikimedia Commons)
Pitcher Edwin Jackson was born on September 9, 1983 in Neu Ulm, Germany while his father, Edwin Jackson Sr., was serving in the United States Army there. He has the distinction of having played for more major league teams than any other player in Major League Baseball history. Over the course of a career that spanned sixteen years, Jackson played for fourteen MLB teams:
Los Angeles Dodgers (2003–2005)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays (2006–2008)
Detroit Tigers (2009, 2019)
Arizona Diamondbacks (2010)
Chicago White Sox (2010–2011)
St. Louis Cardinals (2011)
Washington Nationals (2012, 2017)
Chicago Cubs (2013–2015)
Atlanta Braves (2015)
Miami Marlins (2016)
San Diego Padres (2016)
Baltimore Orioles (2017)
Oakland Athletics (2018)
Toronto Blue Jays (2019)
Jackson was named to the American League All-Star team in 2009. On June 25, 2010, as a Diamondback, he threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jackson was also a member of the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals, though he lost the only game he appeared in. Jackson’s last MLB appearance took place on September 28, 2019 with the Detroit Tigers.
In 2021, Jackson was named to the roster of the United States national baseball team, which qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.
On September 10, 2022, Edwin Jackson announced his retirement from baseball.
Edwin Jackson, 2021 (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Robert Jordan/Released)
Maury Wills, 1960 (University of Southern California Libraries / California Historical Society / Release under the CC BY Attribution license — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Maurice Morning Wills was born October 2, 1932 in Washington, D.C. He began playing semi-professional baseball at the age of 14 and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, upon graduating from high school. He made his major league debut with the Dodgers, now in Los Angeles, in 1959 and spent most of his career with L.A. He was a member of the Dodgers team that won the World Series in 1959, 1963, and 1965.
Wills was named the National League MVP in 1962, stealing a record 104 bases to break the previous modern era mark of 96 set by Ty Cobb. He was named to seven All-Star teams and was the first MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 1962. Wills also won Gold Gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. Over the course of his fourteen-year career, Wills batted .281 with 20 home runs, 458 runs batted in, 2,134 hits, 1,067 runs, 177 doubles, 71 triples, 586 stolen bases, and 552 bases on balls in 1,942 games.
Wills was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, serving as a representative of the Dodgers Legend Bureau, from 2009 until his death. Maury Wills died on September 19, 2022, at the age of 89.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are saddened by the passing of Dodger legend Maury Wills. Our thoughts are with Wills’ family, teammates and friends. pic.twitter.com/zCtmuSUB0o
The All-Star break is now underway, and the All-Start game is slated to take place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Here is the schedule for the next couple of days:
Home Run Derby: Monday, July 18, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
All-Star Game: Tuesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox
If you are interested in following the Home Run Derby, you can find the bracket and information about the competition’s participants through ESPN.com here.
Spec Shea became the first rookie pitcher to win an All-Star Game on July 8, 1947, when the American League defeated the National League, 2-1. In the game, Shea pitched the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings in relief for Hal Newhouser. The New York Yankees hurler allowed one earned run and was declared the winning pitcher.
Spec Shea in 1953 (public domain / Wikimedia Commons)
Mike Schmidt played 18 seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in that time, Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time National League MVP. Over the course of his career, Schmidt hit 548 home runs, including 40 or more home runs in three separate seasons and 30 or more home runs in ten other seasons. He also won ten Gold Glove Awards and was named The Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1980s.
Mike Schmidt was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. In his induction speech below, I particularly like Schmidt’s discussions on positive encouragement for kids and on the need for baseball to reconnect with its fans.
