The 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 16th annual midseason exhibition game between the all-stars of Major League Baseball's American and National Leagues. The American League continued its early dominance of the Midsummer Classic with an 11-7 win at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The win moved the AL's all-time record in the game to 12-4. The starting pitchers were Mel Parnell of the Boston Red Sox for the AL and Warren Spahn of the Boston Braves for the NL. Detroit Tigers pitcher Virgil Trucks got the win, Brooklyn Dodger Don Newcombe took the loss, and Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees earned the save. The only home runs of the game were hit by future Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Stan Musial of the NL.
The 1949 All-Star Game was the first to have African-Americans in the line-up. Jackie Robinson started for the National League at second base. Robinson's Brooklyn Dodgers teammates, catcher Roy Campanella and pitcher Don Newcombe also played for the NL. The Cleveland Indians' Larry Doby was a late-inning replacement for Joe DiMaggio in center field for the American League.
Famous quotes containing the words major, league, baseball and/or game:
“In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“We’re the victims of a disease called social prejudice, my child. These dear ladies of the law and order league are scouring out the dregs of the town. C’mon be a glorified wreck like me.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“Baseball is the religion that worships the obvious and gives thanks that things are exactly as they seem. Instead of celebrating mysteries, baseball rejoices in the absence of mysteries and trusts that, if we watch what is laid before our eyes, down to the last detail, we will cultivate the gift of seeing things as they really are.”
—Thomas Boswell, U.S. sports journalist. “The Church of Baseball,” Baseball: An Illustrated History, ed. Geoffrey C. Ward, Knopf (1994)
“Good shot, bad luck and hell are the five basic words to be used in a game of tennis, though these, of course, can be slightly amplified.”
—Virginia Graham (b. 1912)