1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 41st midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on the evening of July 14, 1970, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Cincinnati Reds of the National League, and resulted in a 5–4 victory for the NL.

1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E American League 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 12 0 National League 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 5 10 0
Date	July 14, 1970
Venue	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati, Ohio
Managers	Earl Weaver (BAL) Gil Hodges (NYM)
MVP	Carl Yastrzemski (BOS)
Attendance	51,838
Ceremonial first pitch	President Richard Nixon
Television	NBC
TV announcers	Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek and Mickey Mantle
Radio	NBC
Radio announcers	Jim Simpson and Sandy Koufax

Richard Nixon throwing out the first ball of the game.

Nixon throwing a ball to the fans.

This was the first MLB All-Star Game ever played at night, coinciding with prime time in the Eastern United States. (The previous year's All-Star Game was originally scheduled to be played at night, but it was rained out and played the following afternoon.) Every All-Star Game since 1970 has been played at night.

Riverfront Stadium had barely been open two weeks when it hosted its first All-Star Game. The game was hosted by the Cincinnati Reds twice before (1938 and 1953) when their home park was Crosley Field. The Reds would host one more All-Star Game at Riverfront Stadium in 1988. So close was the opening of the stadium and the scheduled exhibition game, that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn did not confirm that the game would "definitely" be played in Cincinnati until June 1. Atlanta was the alternative site.

Undeniably, the most remembered moment of the game was the final run, scored in the bottom of the twelfth by Pete Rose. The ball was relayed to the American League catcher, Ray Fosse, in time to tag Rose out, but the tenacious Rose bowled Fosse over enough to drop the ball, giving Rose credit for the game-winning run.

Fan balloting returns

For the first time since 1957, Major League Baseball restored the selection of the eight position players on each All-Star team to the fans. Fan balloting had been revoked after ballot-stuffing campaigns over a number of years. To avoid a repeat of the problem, the 26 million ballots were evenly distributed to 75,000 retail outlets, and 150 minor and major league stadiums. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn also announced a special panel would be in place to review voting to determine if ballot stuffing had occurred.

American League roster

The American League roster included 9 future Hall of Fame players, denoted in italics.

Elected Starters

Position	Player	Team	Notes
C	Bill Freehan	Detroit Tigers
1B	Boog Powell	Baltimore Orioles
2B	Rod Carew	Minnesota Twins	injured
3B	Harmon Killebrew	Minnesota Twins
SS	Luis Aparicio	Chicago White Sox
OF	Frank Howard	Washington Senators
OF	Frank Robinson	Baltimore Orioles
OF	Carl Yastrzemski	Boston Red Sox

Pitchers

Throws	Pitcher	Team	Notes
LH	Mike Cuellar	Baltimore Orioles	did not pitch
RH	Catfish Hunter	Oakland Athletics
LH	Sam McDowell	Cleveland Indians
LH	Dave McNally	Baltimore Orioles	did not pitch
RH	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	starting pitcher
RH	Jim Perry	Minnesota Twins
LH	Fritz Peterson	New York Yankees
RH	Mel Stottlemyre	New York Yankees
LH	Clyde Wright	California Angels

Reserve position players

Position	Player	Team	Notes
C	Ray Fosse	Cleveland Indians
C	Jerry Moses	Boston Red Sox	did not play
2B	Sandy Alomar Sr.	California Angels
2B	Davey Johnson	Baltimore Orioles	started for Carew
3B	Tommy Harper	Milwaukee Brewers
3B	Brooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles
SS	Jim Fregosi	California Angels
OF	Willie Horton	Detroit Tigers
OF	Alex Johnson	California Angels
OF	Tony Oliva	Minnesota Twins
OF	Amos Otis	Kansas City Royals
OF	Roy White	New York Yankees	did not play

Coaching staff

Position	Manager	Team
Manager	Earl Weaver	Baltimore Orioles
Coach	Ralph Houk	New York Yankees
Coach	Lefty Phillips	California Angels

National League roster

The National League roster included 14 future Hall of Fame players and coaches, denoted in italics, as well as all-time hits leader Pete Rose.

Elected starters

Position	Player	Team	Notes
C	Johnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds
1B	Dick Allen	St. Louis Cardinals
2B	Glenn Beckert	Chicago Cubs
3B	Tony Pérez	Cincinnati Reds
SS	Don Kessinger	Chicago Cubs
OF	Hank Aaron	Atlanta Braves
OF	Rico Carty	Atlanta Braves
OF	Willie Mays	San Francisco Giants

Pitchers

Throws	Pitcher	Team	Notes
RH	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals
LH	Joe Hoerner	Philadelphia Phillies	did not pitch
LH	Jim Merritt	Cincinnati Reds
LH	Claude Osteen	Los Angeles Dodgers
RH	Gaylord Perry	San Francisco Giants
RH	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	starting pitcher
RH	Wayne Simpson	Cincinnati Reds	did not pitch
RH	Hoyt Wilhelm	Atlanta Braves	did not pitch

Reserve position players

Position	Player	Team	Notes
C	Dick Dietz	San Francisco Giants
C	Joe Torre	St. Louis Cardinals
1B	Jim Hickman	Chicago Cubs
1B	Willie McCovey	San Francisco Giants
2B	Denis Menke	Houston Astros
2B	Félix Millán	Atlanta Braves	injured
2B	Joe Morgan	Houston Astros
3B	Billy Grabarkewitz	Los Angeles Dodgers
SS	Bud Harrelson	New York Mets
OF	Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh Pirates
OF	Cito Gaston	San Diego Padres
OF	Pete Rose	Cincinnati Reds
OF	Rusty Staub	Montréal Expos

Coaching staff

Position	Manager	Team
Manager	Gil Hodges	New York Mets
Coach	Leo Durocher	Chicago Cubs
Coach	Lum Harris	Atlanta Braves

Starting lineups

While the starters were elected by the fans, the batting orders and starting pitchers were selected by the managers.

American League				National League
Order	Player	Team	Position	Order	Player	Team	Position
1	Luis Aparicio	Chicago White Sox	SS	1	Willie Mays	San Francisco Giants	CF
2	Carl Yastrzemski	Boston Red Sox	CF	2	Dick Allen	St. Louis Cardinals	1B
3	Frank Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	RF	3	Hank Aaron	Atlanta Braves	RF
4	Boog Powell	Baltimore Orioles	1B	4	Tony Pérez	Cincinnati Reds	3B
5	Harmon Killebrew	Minnesota Twins	3B	5	Rico Carty	Atlanta Braves	LF
6	Frank Howard	Washington Senators	LF	6	Johnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds	C
7	Davey Johnson	Baltimore Orioles	2B	7	Don Kessinger	Chicago Cubs	SS
8	Bill Freehan	Detroit Tigers	C	8	Glenn Beckert	Chicago Cubs	2B
9	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	P	9	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	P

Umpires

Position	Umpire
Home Plate	Al Barlick (NL)
First Base	John Rice (AL)
Second Base	Frank Secory (NL)
Third Base	Bill Haller (AL)
Left Field	Frank Dezelan (NL)
Right Field	Russ Goetz (AL)

Scoring summary

Scoring opened in the top of the sixth inning for the AL, with Gaylord Perry pitching in relief for the NL. Ray Fosse singled, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sam McDowell. Two batters later, with one out, Carl Yastrzemski singled home Fosse to give the AL a 1–0 lead.

The American League added another run in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Brooks Robinson singled. Tony Oliva walked, with Robinson advancing to second base. Davey Johnson singled to load the bases. Ray Fosse then hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Robinson to score, pushing the AL advantage to 2–0.

The NL answered in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jim Perry had entered to pitch in relief for the AL, and gave up a single to Bud Harrelson to start the inning. Cito Gaston walked, sending Harrelson to second base. Jim Perry then hit Denis Menke with a pitch to load the bases. Willie McCovey, pinch hitting for Gaylord Perry, grounded into a double play, permitting Harrelson to score and cutting the AL lead to 2–1.

The AL increased their lead in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Carl Yastrzemski and Willie Horton hit back-to-back singles, putting runners at first and second bases. Amos Otis flew out, permitting Yastrzemski to tag up and move to third. Brooks Robinson tripled, scoring Yastrzemski and Horton. The AL now led 4–1.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Catfish Hunter entered to pitch in relief for the AL, and promptly gave up a home run to Dick Dietz. Bud Harrelson singled. One batter later, with one out, Joe Morgan singled, sending Harrelson to second base. Fritz Peterson entered to relieve Hunter. The first batter he faced, Willie McCovey, singled, scoring Harrelson, and moving Morgan to third base. Mel Stottlemyre was sent in to relieve Peterson, as Roberto Clemente was sent to pinch hit for the pitcher, Bob Gibson. Clemente hit a sacrifice fly, permitting Morgan to score. The inning ended with Pete Rose striking out. The 4–4 score sent the game to extra innings.

In the bottom of the twelfth, NL batters were facing Clyde Wright, in his second inning of relief pitching for the AL. With two outs, Pete Rose and Billy Grabarkewitz hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second bases. Jim Hickman singled to Amos Otis in center field. Otis fired the ball to catcher Ray Fosse as Pete Rose ran past third base, heading to home. Otis' throw was on target on the third base side of home plate, and arrived as Rose reached Fosse. Rose bowled over Fosse, forcing him to drop the ball. Rose scored to end the game.

Line score

Tuesday, July 14, 1970 8:15 pm (ET) at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
American League	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	12	0
National League	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	1	5	10	0
WP: Claude Osteen (1-0)   LP: Clyde Wright (0-1) Home runs: AL: None NL: Dick Dietz (1)

Game notes and records

NBC's telecast of the game earned a national Nielsen rating of 28.5, the highest ever for an All-Star Game.

Claude Osteen was credited with the win. Clyde Wright was charged with the loss. Mel Stottlemyre, who permitted the tying run to score in the bottom of the ninth, was charged with a blown save.

Rico Carty became the first player in history to be elected to the All-Star team by the fans as a write-in candidate.

Twenty-three-year-old Ray Fosse suffered a fractured and separated left shoulder when Pete Rose collided with him on the last play of the game. The damage was not immediately noticed in X-rays taken that evening. While he continued playing for about a month, by his own admission, he never regained his swing and never returned to the level of play that he played at before the injury. In a 1999 San Francisco Chronicle interview, he demonstrated that he still could not lift his left arm, and suffered from arthritis as a result of the injury until his death on 13 October 2021 at age 74.

The collision opened the debate of collisions at home plate between a runner and a batter, with prohibitions of the practice imposed at amateur levels. After Buster Posey suffered a season-ending injury during the 2011 MLB season, Major League Baseball imposed a rule prohibiting the practice in 2014.

This was the NL's eighth consecutive win. The AL would end the streak next year, but the NL began an 11-game winning streak in 1972.

Carl Yastrzemski tied the All-Star Game record for hits in a game (4), and singles in a game (3). Yastrzemski also became the second player to win the MVP award while playing for the losing team.

Prior to this year, the award given to the MVP of the game had been called the Arch Ward Memorial Award. Starting this year, the award would be called the Commissioner's Trophy (not to be confused with the Commissioner's Trophy which has been presented to the champion of the World Series since 1967). It would be restored to its original name in 1982 before being renamed for Ted Williams in 2002.

External links

• 1970 All-Star Game Box Score, July 14 at Baseball-Reference.com
• 1970 All-Star Game at Baseball Almanac
• July 14, 1970: Rose knocks down Fosse to complete NL’s comeback - Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project)