On July 13, 1954, Brooklyn Dodgers manager Walter Alston led the National League team in the MLB All-Star Game at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. He was accompanied by Brooklyn players Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider.
That year’s Midsummer Classic stand as the second-highest scoring affair in the game’s history. The NL entered play with a four-game winning streak in the All-Star matchup but fell behind 4-0 in the third inning.
They rallied for five runs in the fourth, and when the AL tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, pushed across two more runs in the fifth to reclaim the lead. The back-and-forth affair continued into the bottom of the inning as the AL again pulled even.
They took a lead in the sixth inning but found themselves trailing heading into the bottom of the eighth. Hometown representative Larry Doby changed that with a pinch-hit, game-tying home run.
New York Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra each hit a single and after an intentional walk that loaded the bases, Nellie Fox’s two-run single gave the AL a decided lead.
Campanella finished 1-for-3 with a walk, Hodges was 0-for-1, Reese didn’t appear in the game as a reserve, Robinson went 1-for-2 with two RBI and Snider was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Erskine allowed one hit and retired two of three batters faced.
The 1954 MLB All-Star Game tied or set records for home runs by both teams (six), homers by one team (four, AL), combined runs (20), hits by both teams (31) and hits by one team (17, AL).
Although Alston and the NL came up short, it was the start of a record nine times he managed in an All-Star Game. Alston managed 23 seasons for the Dodgers, spending time with the franchise in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, winning four NL pennants and four World Series titles.
Alston retired in 1976 with a 2,040- 1,613 record and six NL Manager of the Year awards.
