just seeing Johnny Bench behind the dish easily trumps any home run derby
just seeing Johnny Bench behind the dish easily trumps any home run derby
Am I wrong, or was that the ASG when Reggie hit one into orbit at Tiger Stadium?
PS- there's my favorite catcher, behind home plate!
sorry we're boring
Bench just hit one into the upper deck at Tiger Stadium off Vida Blue. A real blast.
Thanks for the tip on this. You're right, much better than HR derby.
I dunno(yet) but I do know that JB has one circling the earthOriginally Posted by Always Red
Am I wrong, or was that the ASG when Reggie hit one into orbit at Tiger Stadium?
PS- there's my favorite catcher, behind home plate!
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_a...age=recap_1971What happens when the wind is blowing out at an All-Star Game? Exactly what happened at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. Six Future Hall of Famers- Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente-homer in the game to account for every run scored by both teams. Jackson's blasts, however, is especially memorable. With one on in the bottom of the third, the A's slugger rips a Dock Ellis pitch into a light tower on the roof of Tigers Stadium-520 feet from home plate!
sorry we're boring
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9...y-of-the-event
The Home Run Derby, with all its bells and whistles, became an official part of the All-Star Game in 1985. It has been a pale imitation of the home run derby that broke out at the 1971 All-Star Game.
On a hot and windy night at Detroit's Tiger Stadium, the leagues combined for six homers. Each homer was hit by a future Hall of Famer: Henry Aaron, Johnny Bench and Roberto Clemente for the National League; Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Reggie Jackson for the American League.
Jackson's roof shot dwarfed them all. In terms of power and majesty, it is the most epic of the 175 homers in All-Star history.
Jackson drove a 1-2 slider from Dock Ellis an estimated 520 feet off a power transformer atop the right-field roof. Joe Torre, at the game representing the Cardinals as the NL's starting third baseman, insisted the ball was still going up when it hit the structure.
"It was a wonderful feat," Jackson said. "The biggest kick I got out of it was that I was there with so many of my heroes. You go to the All-Star Game to be seen.
"I was thrilled to be able to perform at the same level with those players."
Torre said the wind had nothing to do with Jackson's drive. It was all strength and ability, the stuff of All-Star legends.
"He killed it," said Torre, now the Los Angeles Dodgers manager.
Not what is expected from a pinch-hitter who was choking up, desperate to make contact. The back story to Jackson's electric homer:
REPLACEMENT REGGIE
Jackson, a 25-year-old outfielder with Oakland, was not supposed to be at Tiger Stadium. He was not among the nine outfielders on the original AL team.
That changed when Minnesota's Tony Oliva withdrew because of an injured right knee. Baltimore's Earl Weaver, the AL manager, picked Jackson to replace Oliva.
"I was a fan who was a Baseball player," Jackson said. "There was so much excitement in me on that day."
With Oakland, Jackson had a locker next to veteran third baseman Sal Bando. When Jackson was put on the AL team, Bando started needling him.
"He said, 'Buck, don't go there and strike out and embarrass the team,'" said Jackson, who answered to that nickname throughout his career.
At the time, Jackson was on the way to leading the AL in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season. He would become the career leader in strikeouts with 2,597. Strikeouts usually did not rattle Jackson, but not this time. Bando's words stayed with Jackson.
Before going to the All-Star Game, Jackson had returned an order of bats because the handles were too thick for his liking. Bat-company representative Frank Torre, a former major-leaguer and Joe's older brother, personally delivered a new shipment to Jackson on workout day.
Jackson handled each bat but found only one he liked. Frank Torre was flabbergasted. Jackson had picked out the only bat that had a handle 1-16th of an inch narrower than the others. The others had the same sized handles as the rejected batch.
"Frank said, 'I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it,'" Jackson said. "That was the bat I wanted."
In the third inning, Weaver told Jackson to grab that bat and hit for AL starting pitcher Vida Blue. The NL led 3-0 on homers by Aaron and Bench.
Jackson was stunned to get an early call. Always one to revel in the big moment, Jackson walked to the plate thinking, "Man, don't they want to save me for something big instead of getting me out of the way early?"
Ellis, a 26-year-old righthander with Pittsburgh, was a sinker-slider specialist with a taste for controversy.
Before the game, Ellis had insisted he would not start against Blue, a fellow African-American, because "they'll never start one brother against another brother." Years later, Ellis would claim he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched an eight-walk no-hitter against San Diego in 1970.
Jackson batted with Luis Aparicio on base. As Ellis got ahead in the count at 1-2 on fastballs, Jackson stepped out of the box and whispered "Sal Bando." The jibes from his teammate made Jackson make a rare change in approach. He could not strike out.
"Sal made me choke up," Jackson said. "He was in my brain. He said it kiddingly, but it was in there."
On the next pitch, Ellis wanted Jackson to chase a slider. The ball caught too much of the plate, and history followed.
Jackson said he hit the pitch so squarely that he felt nothing on contact. All energy went from the bat to the ball. The sound of bat meeting ball was more like the "click" of a perfectly hit golf shot than the thud of the usual home run.
Ball striking transformer is the lasting image of the homer, but Jackson will always remember another image. NL center fielder Willie Mays, his boyhood hero, retrieved the ball when it came off the roof and flipped it to Jackson.
"It went so far that I was almost startled myself," Jackson said.
The homer triggered a four-run inning that led to the AL's 6-4 victory.
the aftermath
Jackson and Ellis went in opposite directions after that fateful meeting.
Jackson won the AL Most Valuable Player award in 1973, when he led the league in homers (32) and RBIs (117) while with Oakland. He also led the league in homers in 1975, with 36.
Ellis won 19 games in 1971, the third of seven consecutive seasons in which he had a double-figures victories total. His penchant for finding trouble overshadowed his pitching.
He was maced by a security guard outside Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium in 1972. In an attempt to embolden his Pittsburgh teammates, Ellis hit Cincinnati's first three batters in a 1974 game, walked Tony Perez on four pitches and put two pitches behind Bench's head before being removed.
In 1976, Jackson and Ellis crossed paths for the first time since the Detroit All-Star Game. Jackson had been traded to Baltimore, where he played one season. Pittsburgh had sent Ellis to the Yankees.
The first meeting, in May, was uneventful. The second meeting, in July, was explosive.
There was a bad atmosphere between the teams, a situation that Yankees manager Billy Martin stoked. Baltimore starter Jim Palmer hit Mickey Rivers and Thurman Munson with pitches. Ellis came close up high to several Baltimore hitters. Jackson and Ellis shouted insults at each other throughout.
It ended in the eighth. Jackson led off, and Ellis drilled him with the first pitch. Jackson went down with a broken jaw.
"He definitely hit me on purpose," Jackson said.
Jackson believes the beaning was a heat-of-the-moment act and not retaliation for the All-Star homer, but he was too wary of Ellis to ask. For the remainder of his career, Jackson steered clear of Ellis.
"Dock was different," Jackson said.
Ellis pitched three more seasons before drug-related problems ended a career in which he won 138 but made only one fateful All-Star appearance. Ellis, a drug counselor after his career, died last winter at age 62 from cirrhosis of the liver.
Jackson joined the Yankees and Martin in 1977. Jackson retired after the 1987 season with 563 homers, which puts him 11th on the current career list. (Five players have passed Jackson since he retired.) Jackson went into the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection in 1993.
The Detroit blast was Jackson's only homer in 26 career at-bats in the All-Star Game. It was the most memorable drive on the night of the homers.
The Home Run Derby, with all its bells and whistles, became an official part of the All-Star Game in 1985. It has been a pale imitation of the home run derby that broke out at the 1971 All-Star Game. On a hot and windy night at Detroit's Tiger Stadium, the leagues combined for six homers. Each homer was hit by a future Hall of Famer: Henry Aaron, Johnny Bench and Roberto Clemente for the National League; Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Reggie Jackson for the American League.
Tony La Russa, Cardinals and former Oakland and Chicago White Sox manager "The 1989 game in Anaheim - just because (the Athletics) lost the World Series my first time in the year before. (Tommy) Lasorda is over there laughing. He already had shouting rights and then they had scored two in the top of the first. And then Bo (Jackson) hits his home run and so did (Wade) Boggs." La Russa would go on to win three straight games as an All-Star manager. "I love All-Star Games," he said.
Ted Simmons, former Cardinals catcher "My first All-Star Game start in San Diego in 1978. The game began in the twilight and Vida Blue was pitching. I couldn't see the ball. And I was the catcher."
sorry we're boring
thanks for posting that...watching this makes me remember a time when I was a huge baseball fan and not just simply a fan of the Reds....I wish I could recapture that zest for the game as a whole
I was there.
Did you sit in the outfield? Lots of action out there!
My first "famous" game I ever attended was the 7th game of the 1972 World Series.
sorry we're boring
LF several rows behind Killebrews HRDid you sit in the outfield? Lots of action out there!
My first "famous" game I ever attended was the 7th game of the 1972 World Series.
La Russa loves the AS so much then why did he have Pujols on the bench with a chance to win the game and have Rowland batting against Rodriguez? in 2005 or was it 2007?
I enjoy those AS games more beacuse they had the starters throw at least 2 innings...now it's 1 and out and they want to get everyone in and before you know it....it's tied and you have no one left or you took out someone too early.
The starter is the SF kid right? he has not pitched in more than 4 days....he should be able to go at lest 2.
This is the first All Star game I have in my memory. Lots of great players. My favorite player at the time,Bench hit a home run and Reggie's homer was incredible. I wish I had known it was on and I would have asked someone to record it for me. I don't get the MLB network. If anyone by chance did record it and can make me a copy I would appreciate it. Just PM me.
Reds Fan Since 1971
I watched the entire game. My kids got home from VBS and wanted to know who was playing and were interested in the game. They know Johnny Bench, and I always have to correct them when they say "he was one of the best catchers ever" to "he was the greatest catcher of all time." I'm sure they'll get it right one day.
I was only 6, so I'm sure this game was on, but I don't remember it, so it added a little suspense for me since I didn't know the outcome.
It is amazing that an AL team which started an aged Luis Aparicio and actually played Cookie Rojas won the game, but then the NL was full of aging stars like Aaron, Mays and McCovey who were certainly past their prime.
Many have speculated Bench's dinger traveled farther than Jackson's.
Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand
But not as hard or as fast, that jackson HR was a gunshot
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