Robert Walker/The New York Times
Johnny Callison of the Phillies after his three-run homer in the ninth gave the National League a 7-4 victory. Callison believed, erroneously, that it was a sign that 1964 was Philadelphia's year.
Shea Stadium and the World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in April 1964, reason enough for Major League Baseball to stage its All-Star Game in Queens. By July 7, the day of the midseason classic, which was played on a sunny afternoon, the Mets had lost 58 games on their way to losing 109.
The Mets are finally hosting the All-Star Game again, at Citi Field on Tuesday. Once again, the Mets aren't very good, although 109 losses would seem beyond their reach.
A half-century from now, fans may talk about the Hall of Famers on the current National and American League rosters, a group that includes Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Joey Votto and David Wright. The oldest player is Mariano Rivera, 43; the youngest is Bryce Harper, 20.
The 1964 All-Star squads had 18 eventual Hall of Famers, 12 from the National League. Both teams were so loaded that Sandy Koufax and Whitey Ford never got to throw a pitch, but they did guard the ball bags during batting practice. Bill Mazeroski and Ron Santo didn't get to play, either. Hank Aaron was a mere ninth-inning pinch-hitter for Ron Hunt, a starter at second base who was the lone Mets All-Star.
Casey Stengel, the Mets' irrepressible manager, coached first base for the National League. He looked at the lineup card before the game and said: "Look at them extry men. Aaron, White, Koufax, Bunning. This lineup is so good that my best hitter, Ron Hunt, is batting eighth."
The starting pitchers were from the two Los Angeles teams: Don Drysdale of the Dodgers and Dean Chance of the Angels. The N.L. manager was the Dodgers' Walter Alston; Al Lopez of the Chicago White Sox managed the A.L. team
The game drew an announced crowd of 50,850, the largest for an All-Star Game since 1959 but a few thousand short of a sellout. The National League won, 7-4, on a three-run, game-ending home run by the Philadelphia Phillies' Johnny Callison.
A portrait of the game was derived from interviews with some of the All-Stars.
DICK GROAT N.L. starting shortstop I liked Shea Stadium. I just loved New York City. I broke in at the Polo Grounds, where I got my first major league hit. I even met my wife at the Polo Grounds.
DEAN CHANCE My parents drove out to the game from Ohio, and my friends were there. I can't say that Shea stood out from anywhere else, but it was the first time I'd ever seen it.
RON HUNT The big thing was that my grandpa and my mom had a chance to fly in. I come from a split home, and Grandpa and Mom raised me in the alleys of St. Louis, and he taught me how to play ball, hit a ball, and how to play bottle caps.
JOE PEPITONE A.L. reserve first baseman It was new, and any new ballpark for the first time is special. It was exciting. The fences were deep. It had more of a coliseum look.
BILL WHITE N.L. reserve first baseman We didn't like the American League. The National League always felt it had better players. We thought we were more competitive.
JOE TORRE N.L. starting catcher There's so much more fanfare now. When we walked into the clubhouse, you looked up and you had medical tape above everybody's locker with your name on it.
PEPITONE It was a totally different game then. Now it's more of a comedy. Kids out there laughing. We wanted to beat the other team and beat them bad. You saw Rose slide full blast into Fosse in an All-Star Game. Today, a guy slides and the other guy helps him up. If I did that, Ralph Houk would have grabbed me by the eyeballs.
TORRE I was going over the signs with Drysdale, and here I am, 23, not yet 24, and I'm asking him what he wants to use for signs. And he said, "Just fastball, curve and breaking ball." I said, "What's your sign for your spitball?" and he said, "I'll just throw it off the fastball." Being dumb, I said yes, and he threw that wet fastball three or four times past me.
JIM FREGOSI A.L. starting shortstop Dean really wanted to start. He got knocked out early the Sunday before in Boston so he could start in the All-Star Game. That was the contention of many of us at the time.
The American League jumped to a 1-0 lead against Drysdale in the first inning when Harmon Killebrew singled in Fregosi, who led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball by Torre — perhaps one of Drysdale's spitters. Chance began what became an easy three-inning stint — two hits, no runs, two strikeouts — with the leadoff hitter Roberto Clemente.
CHANCE I had two strikes on Clemente and tried to throw a slider. It hung up by his eyes and he went off his feet, and he struck out. It was totally luck. Next hitter was Dick Groat, and I struck him out. The only two guys I struck out.
HUNT Chance was just another pitcher to me. I hit a 3-1 slider over the shortstop's head for a single.
In the fourth inning, Lopez replaced Chance with Kansas City Athletics reliever John Wyatt. Billy Williams greeted him with a home run. Three batters later, Ken Boyer made it 2-1 with another home run.
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