1953 All-Star Game

By now the American League was suffering from a bruised ego as the All-Star scales had been visibly tipped toward the National League. They had won three consecutive games in a row and for the first time in a long time, the American League was considered an "underdog."

Even managing genius Casey Stengel could not believe what had happened. After all, he had taken the Yankees to World Series victories in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952, but lost the All-Star Game in 1950, 1951 and 1952. Nothing improved in 1953 as the National League continued to dominate as the American League had from 1946 through 1949.

Robin Roberts of the National League and Billy Pierce of the American League each delivered three, uneventful, one-hit innings. Then Allie Reynolds took over for the American League and gave up two runs in the fifth. Warren Spahn took the mound for the National League and then was replaced in the sixth by Curt Simmons.

In what was hailed as one of the greatest defensive plays in All-Star history, Enos Slaughter ran down a line-drive by Harvey Kuenn, making a diving, tumbling grab along the right-field line. In the eighth Stengel brought in forty-seven year-old Satchel Paige to pitch. Denied the chance to play until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, Paige had not reached the majors until '48. The National League, however, showed him no respect as he gave up three hits and two earned runs in a single inning. The American League escaped the embarrassment of a shutout in the ninth, putting together three singles for a run, but the effort went unnoticed, as the National League continued their winning-streak for the fourth year in a row.