An All-Star game in any sport should be a star-studded affair. The 1965 MLB All-Star game at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington was that and then some.
A total of 20 future Hall of Fame players participated in the game, 14 for the National League and six for the American League.
The NL got out to a 5-0 lead, but the AL rallied to tie the game at 5-5. The Nationals scored a run in the seventh to win 6-5 and take the lead in the series for the first time, 18-17-1.
Starting lineups
Here are the starting lineups for the 1965 All-Star Game.
National League
1. Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants, CF
2. Hank Aaron, Milwaukee Braves, RF
3. Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates, LF
4. Richie Allen, Philadelphia Phillies, 3B
5. Joe Torre, Milwaukee Braves, C
6. Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs, 1B
7. Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, 2B
8. Maury Wills, Los Angeles Dodgers, SS
9. Juan Marichal, San Francisco Giants, P
American League
1. Dick McAuliffe, Detroit Tigers, SS
2. Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, 3B
3. Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins, 1B
4. Rocky Colavito, Cleveland Indians, RF
5. Willie Horton, Detroit Tigers, LF
6. Felix Mantilla, Boston Red Sox, 2B
7. Vic Davalillo, Cleveland Indians, CF
8. Earl Battey, Minnesota Twins, C
9. Milt Pappas, Baltimore Orioles, P
The game
Only five batters into the game, the National League had a 3–0 lead.
Willie Mays led off the game with a home run to left field off Milt Pappas, Willie Stargell singled and Joe Torre hit a two-run homer.
Wille Stargell's two-run homer in the second inning off Mudcat Grant scored Hank Aaron in front of him to make it 5–0.
The AL pulled even at 5-5 with a four-run fifth inning against Jim Maloney, with Detroit’s Dick McAuliffe and Minnesota’s Harmon Killebrew each hitting a two-run homer.
In the NL seventh, Sam McDowell walked Mays, who went to third on Aaron's single. Ron Santo's infield single scored Mays with what proved to be the winning run.
San Francisco’s Juan Marichal was the Most Valuable Player. He was the NL’s starting pitcher and went three shutout innings, allowing one hit and not walking or striking out a batter.
Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers pitched the sixth inning and got credit for the win. St. Louis’ Bob Gibson recorded a two-inning save.
National 320 000 100 – 6 11 0
American 000 140 000 – 5 8 0
N.L. Pitchers
Juan Marichal
Jim Maloney (4th)
Don Drysdale (5th)
Sandy Koufax (W, 6th)
Turk Farrell (7th)
Bob Gibson (8th)
A.L. pitchers
Milt Pappas
Mudcat Grant (2nd)
Pete Richert (4th)
Sam McDowell (L, 6th)
Eddie Fischer (8th)
N.L. home runs
Willie Mays (1st)
Joe Torre (1st)
Willie Stargell (2nd)
A.L. home runs
Dick McAuliffe (5th)
Harmon Killebrew (5th)
Twins represented
Six Twins players appeared in the game.
Killebrew hit the home run and finished 1-for-3 officially with two walks.
Jim “Mudcat” Grant pitched two innings, allowing two runs on two hits, walking one and striking out three.
Tony Olivia was 1-2 with a double off of Bob Gibson.
Zoilo Versalles, who was named the American League MVP that year, was 0-1.
Earl Battey went 0-2.
Jimmie Hall was 0-2 but did walk and scored a run.
No Moose
An injured wrist prevented a player with legendary status from the old Southern Minny League from coming back to the state to play in an MLB All-Star game.
Bill “Moose” Skowron, now with the Chicago White Sox, was selected to the game but could not play due to an injured wrist.
Skowron played 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Yankees, playing in the World Series eight times, winning five. He won four with the Yankees, the last one being in 1962 and then he played on a Dodgers’ team that beat New York in the 1963 World Series.
The Yankees were willing to let Skowron go as they had groomed Joe Pepitone to play the position.
The injury kept Skowron out of the 1965 All-Star game and he was replaced on the roster, ironically by Joe Pepitone.
While with Los Angeles, Skowron appeared in an episode of Mr. Ed. He’s No. 14:
In the Southern Minny League, Skowron played with the Austin Packers. Other constants in the league during its run from 1915-1964 were Austin, Mankato and Owatonna.
Sherburn, St. James and Fairmont apparently had teams for at least a short time. Other towns included Janesville, New Richland, Waseca, Blooming Prairie, and Le Roy.
At times there were also teams in the Iowa communities of Mason City, Fort Dodge, Bancroft and Estherville.
Managers
Traditionally, the managers of the All-Star game are the managers of the teams that won their league pennant the previous year.
However, Yankees manager Yogi Berra was fired after the 1964 season and Cardinals manager Johnny Keane resigned and became manager of the Yankees.
The second-place managers (Al López of the White Sox and Gene Mauch of the Phillies) would manage their respective teams.
There had been a tie for second place in the National League, but Reds manager Fred Hutchinson had died in November 1964, making it unnecessary to break the tie.
Sources: Society for American Baseball Research, baseballreference.com, Baseball Almanac, Minnesota Twins, CBS.
On that date
No. 1 TV show: Bonanza, NBC
No. 1 Movie: What’s New Pussycat?
No. 1 song: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones
No. 1 book: The Source, James Michener
Governor of Minnesota: Karl Rolvaag
U.S. President: Lyndon Johnson
Significant news story: President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to be the U.S. Solicitor General, marking the first time a Black jurist was appointed to that position. Two years later, Johnson would nominate Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.
We are the champions
Here are the reigning champions in each sport on July 13, 1965.
World Series: St. Louis Cardinals
Super Bowl: Did not exist. The Cleveland Browns were the reigning NFL champions, and the Buffalo Bills were the AFL champions.
NBA: Boston Celtics
NHL: Montreal Canadiens
College football: Alabama
College basketball: UCLA
Masters: Jack Nicklaus
Daytona 500: Fred Lorenzen
Indy 500: Jim Clark