Sport-Blog.com

Written by James Fohl

Recently I found out the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to host the Major League Baseball Association's All Star game for the 2006 season. At first I really did not mind this decision, as the Pittsburgh Pirates were my local hometown team in which I supported.

I then began thinking, and after a little research I found out that the Pittsburgh Pirates had just hosted the All Star game back in 1994. This is quite odd, since there are now thirty professional baseball teams playing in either the National League (sixteen teams) or the American League (fourteen teams) and the Pittsburgh Pirates have been given the opportunity to host the All Star game two times within a fifteen year time span. What is even worse, is every year the game is shifted (per tradition) between being played in the American and National Leagues, so the National League has only been able to host four All Star games in other teams' stadiums during the Pittsburgh Pirates two opportunities to host the game. Call me a little crazy, but I really do not think that this is fair for the other National League teams.

Another interesting thing to throw into this mix, is that thanks to the Major League Baseball Association's decision to host the game in Pittsburgh in 2006, and in San Fransisco during the 2007 season, the tradition of alternating the game back and forth between the National and American leagues has been destroyed.

In case you were not aware, the Major League Baseball All Star Game is a game in which the best players from the National League play against the best players of the American League. The “best” players are selected by fans voting, either through ballots or on the Internet, and the game is played in the middle of July and marks the middle of the Major League Baseball season. Although throughout most of the history of the All Star game, only one game has been played per season, two games were played from the 1958-1962 seasons.

Below is a history of the All Star games played from 1933 to the present, including who won the game, the score of the game, where the game was played, and the team that hosted the game;

1933 American 4-2 Comiskey Park, Chicago White Sox
1934 American 9-7 Polo Grounds, New York Giants
1935 American 4-1 Municipal Stadium, Cleveland Indians
1936 National 4-3 Braves Field, Boston Braves
1937 American 8-3 Griffith Stadium, Washington Senators
1938 National 4-1 Crosley Field, Cincinnati Reds
1939 American 3-1 Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees
1940 National 4-0 Sportsman's Park, St. Louis Cardinals
1941 American 7-5 Briggs Stadium, Detroit Tigers
1942 American 3-1 Polo Grounds, New York Giants
1943 American 5-3 Shibe Park, Philadelphia Athletics
1944 National 7-1 Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates
1945 Not held due to restrictions in travel due to WWII
1946 American 12-0 Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox
1947 American 2-1 Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs
1948 American 5-2 Sportsman's Park, St. Louis Browns
1949 American 11-7 Ebbets Field, Brooklyn Dodgers
1950 National 4-3 Comiskey Park, Chicago White Sox
1951 National 8-3 Briggs Stadium, Detroit Tigers
1952 National 3-2 Shibe Park, Philadelphia Phillies
1953 National 5-1 Crosley Field, Cincinnati Reds
1954 American 11-9 Municipal Stadium, Cleveland Indians
1955 National 6-5 County Stadium, Milwaukee Braves
1956 National 7-3 Griffith Stadium, Washington Senators
1957 American 6-5 Sportsman's Park, St. Louis Cardinals
1958 American 4-3 Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Orioles
1959-a National 5-4 Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates
1959-b American 5-3 Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Dodgers
1960-a National 5-3 Municipal Stadium, Kansas City Athletics
1960-b National 6-0 Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees
1961-a National 5-4 Candlestick Park, San Francisco Giants
1961-b TIE 1-1 Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox
1962-a National 3-1 D.C. Stadium, Washington Senators
1962-b American 9-4 Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs
1963 National 5-3 Municipal Stadium, Cleveland Indians
1964 National 7-4 Shea Stadium, New York Mets
1965 National 6-5 Metropolitan Stadium, Minnesota Twins
1966 National 2-1 Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals
1967 National 2-1 Anaheim Stadium, California Angels
1968 National 1-0 Astrodome, Houston Astros
1969 National 9-3 Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium, WashingtonSenators
1970 National 5-4 Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Reds
1971 American 6-4 Tiger Stadium, Detroit Tigers
1972 National 4-3 Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta Braves
1973 National 7-1 Royals Stadium, Kansas City Royals
1974 National 7-2 Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh Pirates
1975 National 6-3 County Stadium, Milwaukee Brewers
1976 National 7-1 Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia Phillies
1977 National 7-5 Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees
1978 National 7-3 San Diego Stadium, San Diego Padres
1979 National 7-6 Kingdome, Seattle Mariners
1980 National 4-2 Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Dodgers
1981 National 5-4 Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland Indians
1982 National 4-1 Olympic Stadium, Montreal Expos
1983 American 13-3 Comiskey Park, Chicago White Sox
1984 National 3-1 Candlestick Park, San Francisco Giants
1985 National 6-1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minnesota Twins
1986 American 3-2 Astrodome, Houston Astros Roger Clemens, BOS (AL)
1987 National 2-0 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland Athletics
1988 American 2-1 Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Reds
1989 American 5-3 Anaheim Stadium, California Angels
1990 American 2-0 Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs
1991 American 4-2 SkyDome, Toronto Blue Jays
1992 American 13-6 Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego Padres
1993 American 9-3 Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles
1994 National 8-7 Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh Pirates
1995 National 3-2 The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas Rangers
1996 National 6-0 Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia Phillies
1997 American 3-1 Jacobs Field, Cleveland Indians
1998 American 13-8 Coors Field, Colorado Rockies
1999 American 4-1 Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox
2000 American 6-3 Turner Field, Atlanta Braves
2001 American 4-1 Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners
2002 TIE 7-7 Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers
2003 American 7-6 U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago White Sox
2004 American 9-4 Minute Maid Park, Houston Astros