Remembering the last All-Star Game in Canada
By: Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
It’s not often a major-league baseball All-Star Game is held in Canada.
The first one was held July 13, 1982 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and the second and last one was held July 9, 1991 at Toronto’s SkyDome.
There hasn’t been an All-star Game played in this country since 1991 so the 25th anniversary of the one in Toronto is worth noting.
Hundreds of media were on hand and the city was abuzz. Even hitting legends Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams were present. Imagine. And Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. President George H.W. Bush were among the celebrities.
The American League beat the National League 4-2 before 52,383 fans with the help of game MVP Cal Ripken Jr.’s three-run homer off of Expos pitcher and former Orioles teammate Dennis Martinez in the third inning.
The homer prompted a next-day, front-page headline of Cal The Ripper! in the Toronto Sun. The photo shows Ripken teeing off at the plate and Martinez in motion, finishing his pitch.
Jimmy Key of the Blue Jays tossed one inning to emerge as the pitcher of record for the winning side in the Midsummer Classic.
Martinez entered the game in the third in place of starter Tom Glavine and got Roberto Alomar of the Blue Jays to fly to left. Rickey Henderson singled to centre and Wade Boggs beat out an infield single to second before Ripken homered.
Martinez may have been roughed up in the game but 19 days later, he pitched a perfect game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
The NL side opened the scoring in the first when Tony Gwynn singled and Will Clark singled, moving Gwynn to third. Gwynn scampered home when Bobby Bonilla reached on a single near the pitcher’s mound. The NL added its second run in the fourth when former Expo Andre Dawson, then with the Cubs, hit a solo homer.
The Al squad scored its other run in the seventh when Harold Baines delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring Joe Carter of the Jays.
Ivan Calderon of the Expos was the starting left fielder for the NL and went 1-for-2. Carter, Key and Alomar were the Jays’ reps in the game.
John McSherry gained notoriety for being the only umpire to officiate both all-star games in Canada. He was at second base for the game in Montreal and at first for the game in Toronto.
One of my souvenirs of that game is a cap that has never been worn. Writing for the Ottawa Sun in those days, I remember taking a boat across to scenic Centre Island for a gala in Toronto the day before the game along with numerous other writers and executives from many teams, including Expos GM Dave Dombrowski.
That same day before the game, Ripken captured the Home Run Derby title, as he hit 12 home runs over the course of two rounds.
“Cecil Fielder of Detroit hit a home run off the Windows Restaurant during the home-run derby,’’ recalled former Jays PR guru Howard Starkman.
Two days to remember and we hope the all-star game comes back to Toronto sometime soon.