Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
After a 12-0 rout in the 1946 All-Star Game, the 1947 edition of the Midsummer Classic produced a pitching duel that was aided by the winds blowing in off Lake Michigan at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
But the result was the same ­-- an American League win for the 10th time in 14 games ... a fact that caused some concern about the competitive levels of the two leagues.
For the first time in All-Star Game history, the fans voted for the starting position players.
The starting pitchers for the rival leagues started the game with near-identical, three-inning scoreless stints. AL starter Hal Newhouser of the Detroit Tigers allowed one hit with no walks and two strikeouts. National League starter Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell allowed a hit with no walks and four strikeouts in his three innings.
The NL took a 1-0 lead with two out in the bottom of the fourth, when New York Giants first baseman Johnny Mize homered off Frank "Spec" Shea of the crosstown rival Yankees.
But the AL tied the game in the sixth and scored the decisive run an inning later for a 2-1 victory.
Shortstop Luke Appling of the crosstown White Sox led off the sixth with a single. He raced to third on a single to right by Boston left fielder Ted Williams off Harry "The Cat" Brecheen of the St. Louis Cardinals. Appling scored the tying run when Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio grounded into a double play.
With one out in the seventh, Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr singled off Johnny Sain of the Boston Braves and stole second. Sain then tried to pick off Doerr, but the ball ricocheted off Doerr's back into short center for an error that allowed Doerr to advance to third. He scored on a two-out single by Washington Senators outfielder Stan Spence, who was pinch-hitting for Shea.
Although Shea allowed the NL's lone run on three hits and two walks in three innings, he became the first rookie in All-Star Game history to be the winning pitcher.
Walt Masterson of the Senators followed Shea and allowed one walk in 1 2/3 innings. The Yankees' Joe Page allowed a hit and a walk over 1 1/3 innings to close out the win.
Sain's teammate Warren Spahn closed out the game for the NL with two hitless innings. But the NL couldn't produce the tying run.
Williams had two of the AL's eight hits. Mize had two of the NL's five hits and was the only player to reach base three times.